Before and After 102
by Live4Dance88
Summary: Vincent spends the time Amaya is gone happily reflecting on the past but will the future be all that joyous? Those who look down on their relationship think not... Rating subject to change. Sequel to Apartment 102
1. Reflections of the Past

**Yes, I decided to make a sequel! The first few chapters are going to be based on what happened in the past but after that is ALL in the future and beware of some CRAZY twists. Thanks to ALL you people that reviewed to the first story I hope you ALL continue to give me your feedback for this one!**

**Hope you enjoy!!**

**Before and After 102**

**Reflections of the Past**

I walked into the empty house. I guess its back to living in silence and seclusion…The silence was quickly interrupted by the dog I bought for her. Yume whined and scratched against the bars of her cage. I took my shoes off and walked over to her cage and let her out. She wandered around for a while before returning to me with her head cocked to the side.

"That's right…she's gone…" I smiled faintly at the animal. She barked at me as if to say she didn't believe me. I sighed loudly and patted my leg so she would jump into my lap. She did so and I stroked her long fur for a while. I couldn't say I was lost in thought. For a while it seemed as if my brain was turned off. All I've had to think about for the past couple years is what Amaya had planned for me next. I wondered how she was doing now. It had already been two and a half hours since her plane took off. I'd hope she wasn't too busy dwelling on my absence rather than focusing on her dream career. Still to this day I do not understand how I mean so much to her.

I retired to the bedroom early that night. There was nothing else for me to do… I decided I would try to sleep this time away. There was a black album with a red ribbon around it sitting on the bed. I untied the bow and opened the album. I smiled as I looked at the picture of Amaya and I back when we lived at the apartments. She was smiling brightly, while I seemed to almost glare into the camera. I wouldn't have admitted it back then, but I was happy with her around. There was a note on a hot pink post it much like the one she left on my door a few years ago that read: "Don't miss me too much." She drew a face next to it with its tongue sticking out. I appreciated her humor… I continued to flip through the photo album that she made for me. I noticed one section seemed to have two photos shoved into a space for one. The one underneath was flipped over. My smile fell when I pulled the picture out and flipped it over. It was the one of Lucrecia and I. The one I kept near my bedside before I fell for Amaya. For the first time I could look at that picture and it didn't make my heart ache. Suddenly, with a brighter future ahead of me, my past didn't seem all that bad…

**33**** Years Ago****…**

My footsteps were the only sound in the hall of Shinra Manor. I was to meet the lady I would be body guarding during what they called the Jenova Project. I did not know very well what this project consisted of, nor did I care… I told myself this would be my last mission as a Turk. I wanted out of this shady business. This was not the life for me. I opened the door and stepped inside a room with a table in the middle of it. A lady dressed in a white lab coat with long brown hair tied up had her back to me. I cleared my throat.

"Vincent Valentine, reporting for duty." My voice shattered the silence in the room. The woman spun around and gasped. She appeared to be nervous about something so I asked. "Ma'am are you ok?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, this is the first time I've met anyone from the Turks…" She shook her uneasiness away and introduced herself to me and extended her hand to me. "Lucrecia Crescent. Please to make your acquaintance Mr. Valentine." All it took was the warmth of her smile and the softness of her hand in mine to make my head spin. I've had a few short experiences with meeting women, but no other woman had this kind of first lasting impression on me. After that moment all I could think about was her… Her smile, her laughter, her attempts to cheer me up although I hadn't even realized I appeared to be sad. Within two weeks I was in love.

Lucrecia was in a scheduled meeting with Hojo to discuss the next level in their project. This left me with hours of free time so I strolled out to the yard and picked a spot in the shade of a tree and sat down on the grass. The scenery was quite admirable and the warm breeze made the spot so comfortable I found myself dozing off until I had completely fallen asleep.

"Vincent…Vincent!" My eyes slowly opened as I heard someone calling my name. I looked up and there she was. The way the sun shone behind her made her look like an angel.

"Oh!" I jumped up into a sitting position and looked up at her as she sat down next to me with her picnic basket.

"Care to join me?" she asked sweetly with a smile that melted my heart. And I did join her. We engaged in light conversation for the first ten minutes then suddenly with the mention of the Jenova project the conversation deepened.

"So…you're saying Hojo wants to have a child? With you?" I asked putting down the sandwich I was eating. I wondered if she had prepared this food herself because it was delicious. Thoughts of having her as my housewife threatened to pull my focus off of getting the information I wanted to hear from her.

"Yes, but I haven't agreed yet. He told me I could take as much time as I needed to think about it." She turned away and seemed to get uneasy. I stared at her for a while, unsure of what to say.

"What does he intend to do with the child?" The question seemed to push her away from me.

"That…is not for you to know. I'm sorry I mentioned it at all." She began to gather the food, even took my unfinished food from beside me and packed up her picnic basket. Once packed up she frantically took off. I sighed. Lucrecia…

During the following weeks I allowed her to pretend like nothing was wrong. As long as I could be near her and see her beautiful smile, I was ok. But it was when I began to notice her spark was fading that I confronted her once more.

"What am I going to do, Vincent…?" she wept silently. I held her hands in mind and bent forward as she dropped to her knees in front of me.

"I've asked myself the same question for years…" I whispered. For years I always thought there was nothing I could do about my wishes for a better life. But in that moment the answer was clear. At least to me…

"What?" Lucrecia looked up at me. Her tear stained face was still amazing stunning. Now was the time. If she didn't already know how I felt, I would tell her now and we could get out of this place…

"Lucrecia…" I bent down so that we were both on our knees face to face. Her hands were still in mine. "I love you. I don't want to see you hurting like this… Let's run away together. I promise I could give you a better life than this."

She stopped crying and looked down. "I couldn't… Vincent I never intended… I thought…"

Her reaction puzzled me, but then her answer came in clearer. "Vincent, you've gotten the wrong idea… I could never leave Hojo… I still love him. I just don't want to experiment on our child. I don't know what to do to make him stop this immoral experimenting… I don't want to be a part of it anymore."

I let go of her hands and stood. "Do you mean that?" Something in her eyes when she told me she loved him didn't set right. If she loved him she wouldn't have been spending the past few nights sneaking into my bed to sleep with me. She stood as well and suddenly appeared defensive.

"Of course I mean it!" With that she stormed off and was gone. I didn't try to stop her and after that I made no efforts to go find her or talk to her. However, within a week or two I would wake up again with her under my sheets. This was becoming too much… She had already broken my heart by saying she was in love with Hojo. What more did she want from me? I looked down at her peaceful sleeping form. Her long brown hair was loose and flowing all over my pillow. I took a deep breath inhaling the sweet, flowery scent of her long locks.

Then it happened. There was a loud bang at the door. Before either of us could move, the door was kicked open, off its hinges. A big man whom was one of Hojo's specimens stood there after kicking the door in. Hojo then stepped out from behind him and approach us cackling evilly. "Wench, I knew you were up to something!" he grabbed her by her hair and threw her from the bed. I reached back to grab my gun, but as soon as I turned my back I felt four bullets tear into my skin. I gasped and began coughing blood onto the white sheets of the bed I occupied in the mansion. My vision darkened and my life in its normal form had ended…

**Present…**

I climbed into the king sized bed groaning at how lonely it felt. After trying so hard, I realized sleep just wasn't going to come. I looked over at the clock. Amaya's plane should have landed by now. As soon as I began to wonder why she hadn't called, my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I smiled to myself.

"Vincent! I miss you so much already! I swear I'm just gonna come back tomorrow I can't take being away from you." Her voice was shaking with emotion and I heard her sniff afterwards. I sighed.

"Don't cry, Amaya. We'll only be apart for a few years or so… Aren't you coming to visit during the holidays? It won't be so bad." I said trying to be supportive. Although, I wouldn't mind having her back here tomorrow…

"What time is it there?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Almost eight-thirty…" I answered glancing back at the digital numbers.

"It's only six-thirty here…You sound like you're tired I thought maybe it was later…" I could tell she had stopped crying. I smiled faintly.

"I plan on sleeping all of this time away. Really nothing else for me to do… Yume misses you. I think the dog is mad at me for your absence." I let a few laugh slip just to lighten the mood. I didn't want Amaya to be sad. She should be enjoying her time there at her dream job.

Amaya laughed softly in return. "Bring her close to the phone."

I rolled my eyes at her ridiculous request, but nevertheless went searching for the dog. She was curled up in her cage even though I had left the door open for her. I bent down and scooped her up putting the phone near her ear.

I heard Amaya's loud voice. "Yume! I miss you too, my little girl! Mommy loves you!" The dog went ballistic at the sound of her owner's voice and jumped from my arms landing clumsily on the floor before taking out running in circles and barking loudly. I then returned to the bedroom where I laid in bed for the next three hours talking nonstop with Amaya. Things had happened so fast with her it seemed. Her absence would give me time to think about how it all started…

**23 Years ago…**

After waking up as a demon, destroying Hojo's lab and killing the woman I thought I loved, I returned to the city that I called home. This of course meant returning to the Shinra Company. I continued to work as a Turk for another five years as I had nowhere else to go and at the time I feared being discovered and once the organization found out about my demon problem they offered protection. But soon they began to see me as a weak link. I often fainted during missions coming dangerously close to being discovered by the police and having the whole organization exposed. Their solution was to kindly 'let me go.' But I wasn't going to make things that easy for them. After an assassination attempt, which was the organization's first choice in what to do with me, I realized that I couldn't die. Therefore I had nothing to lose, so I threatened to turn the president of the Shinra Company into the police. They counter threatened to turn me into a science lab. I argued that if I was exposed I would then sue the Company as they were at fault for my disposition. However, obviously not wanting to get the law involved either way, we came upon a deal. I was unaware just how well off the company had become, but when I saw the amount they offered me I realized that Shinra had been making more money than I'd ever assumed. They offered fifty million, and we sealed the deal at seventy. I promised to never expose Shinra, and they promised to never expose me.

For the next five years I roamed from city to city, remaining in the Midwest. I bought a black SUV which I kept all of my belongings in. I could never stay one place for long because if Chaos was seen multiple times in the same city. Rumors would start. However one appearance here and there wouldn't do much as there were a tone of nuts that made up stories about seeing demons all the time and no one took them seriously. After many accidents and close calls, soon I began to develop a pattern of letting Chaos out. Previously I had been holding him in until I was so sick with his toxins that he would take over. This could happen at any given moment, day or night. So, I decided that every other night I would release him. Upon releasing him myself, I still had a bit of control and it was never a surprise when he took over. This lead to me to believe that I could actually get a permanent place to live. I drove up and down the streets of the Midwestern city. Finally I stumbled upon some decent looking apartments. "Summer Ridge Apartments…" I read aloud as I parked my vehicle in a spot labeled "Visitors."

"Hey sir, may I help you?" A woman in her late twenties asked me as I walked up to her desk. I nodded.

"Do you have anything available?"

A young man came out of a back room and looked at the woman and then at me. The woman opened a file cabinet and read off what rooms were available and the prices. Price didn't matter to me so I vaguely listened.

"102 sound's fine." I said cutting the woman off mid sentence.

The next day I began loading all of my personal belongings into the apartment. Most of what I had were research papers from the experiment. Also some gadgets that I stole from Hojo's lab, including a gauntlet in the shape of a golden claw. I took a cloak too. It looked decent when I first took it, but after Chaos took over one night, the ends got a bit tattered. I wore it anyway; it was winter now, though I was losing my ability to feel temperature. The harsh cold still gave me a chill. Plus, I liked having my face half hidden. My most prized possession was my gun Cerberus. I received the gun as a Turk, but over the years I made adjustments to it. After redecorating and furnishing my apartment to my taste, I secluded myself inside it for years.

**2**** Years Ago…**

I sighed loudly and slammed my refrigerator door shut. Though I didn't need food to survive. I still suffered the discomfort of hunger. However I only bought groceries every two months. I left my apartment, locking it securely behind me. I turned around and locked eyes with a girl carrying a box. She had short hair, with a purple streak in her bang. She dropped the box and screamed. I was a little shaken up myself, just as the door of the apartment across from me started to open; I quickly retreated back into mine. Not another one… I fought back the urge to groan out loud.

Over the next few weeks I laid low. I wasn't ready for another neighbor yet… It had only been a few months ago that I finished off the last one. I looked at the clock. I had been keeping track of the times this neighbor left and returned by the sound of their door opening and slamming shut. It was eight o'clock and normally the person would have returned already. I really needed to get out and get some groceries so I assumed that I had just missed the sound of them returning and left my apartment. I walked down the hall staring at the floor when suddenly I collided with a stack of books. I mentally cursed myself and instantly took responsibility by dropping to the floor and picking up the books. I noticed a hand with neatly painted nails had already attempted to do the same, but wasn't moving so I took the book out from under her hand and continued to stack the rest of them when I came across the last book in her pile. Vampires… So she's come here to do some studies on vampires. I looked up at her with narrowed eyes. Her flawless features expressed nothing but shock as I glared at her. She then uttered a stammering comment I understood as "Thanks." I didn't respond but stood and retreated back into my apartment again. She might have been cute, but it wasn't going to stop me from disposing her if I needed to…


	2. For the Love of Green Tea

**Before and After 102**

**For the Love of Green Tea**

A week passed by slowly.

I was so used to Amaya having breakfast fixed for me when I awoke that I was too lazy to cook anything myself. I fixed myself a cup of green tea instead and thought for a moment how great it was to drink the liquid just to be drinking it and not because I was ill from Chaos's toxins.

**Past**

I awoke feeling out of place. My first breath triggered a coughing fit. Once I recovered I opened my eyes to see two pairs of dark brown ones staring at me like as if I were an alien. My neighbor was the first to speak. "Vincent I think you should go to the hospital."

I sighed and shut my eyes tightly. What is with this girl? As much as I wanted to be rude to her and let her know I am _not_ her friend, I couldn't. I'm not an animal lover either, but it would be like kicking a puppy over and over and watching it follow you around with that sad look in its eyes. Did she say hospital? "No... I'm not going to a hospital." They'll just send my body straight to a lab. And if at any point they try to operate, the moment their tools penetrated my flesh Chaos would take over. I looked over at her friend who seemed to be on the verge of making a run for it. I recognized her as the one who screamed at the sight of me. I returned my gaze to Amaya.

"You have a fever! Evidently a fever so bad that you passed out!" she exclaimed. Either she was an amazing little actress, or she honestly did care about my well being. But why? I stared at her blankly.

Her friend and her argued for a while about how serious this was. But I put an end to everyone's worries. "I can't die." I lowered my head so neither of them could see my face. A feeling of shame came over me for revealing that. How did I know I could trust them? Especially the friend. Nothing about her so far seemed trustworthy. When she finally left I felt a bit relieved, but tensed up again as Amaya came close to me again and touched my forehead with her hand. She let me know the situation was _not normal_ and I let her know that I myself was not normal and she should really just get out of here. I tried my best to make an exit to back up this statement, but my legs wouldn't even carry me to the door and I had to let her settle me into a chair while she prepared what she said would _make everything better. _

She returned with a bright red cup of green tea. As I examined it she joked with me about it not being poisoned. I let her know again I couldn't die anyway. I took a sip of the liquid expecting it to be bitter, but to my surprise it was sweet and quite satisfying. As I drank more I felt the warm liquid slide down my esophagus. Of course it didn't erase the discomfort completely, but it instantly numbed my migraine a bit. I admitted this much to her and she surprised me by touching me again. Hm, what thirty years without a woman's touch does...

**Present**

The house phone rang shattering the silence in the house. I sat in the chair by the window reading a book. I hadn't been able to read anything with Amaya around. Not that that was a bad thing... Reading was a hobby I enjoyed, but...I did enjoy Amaya's company a little more than these mysteries.

I strolled into the kitchen and picked up the phone off of the attachment in the wall. "Hello?"

"Hey! It's Rena! Are you lonely yet? If so you could stay in the city this weekend. My parents are gone again and you know what that means... Party party!!"

I smiled lightly. "No thanks... Rena."

"Are you sure!? Amaya told me to check up on you. She doesn't want you reverting back to that antisocial weirdo she found you as."

"Hmph." I replied.

"So what's it gonna be?" she had a wonderful way of persuading people to do things, but it usually never worked with me. Now was another one of those times it wasn't working.

"I'm fine. I assure you when Amaya gets back, I'll still be the same Vincent she morphed me into." I leaned against the wall, my book still in my hands, my eyes still on the words.

"Alright..." she said slowly with apprehension in her voice. "Well, if you ever feel lonely and wanna hang out with someone, call me or Reno or even Lunaz or Cloud, ok? We're your friends too, ya know."

"I know." I said trying to sound confident. If I sounded like I doubted our friendship in the slightest I would have to listen to an hour of her trying to prove me wrong.

"Ok then, bye Vinvin."

I sighed. "Bye."

I returned to the recliner in the living room by the window to read. I lifted the mug and took a sip unaware of how long it had been sitting there. I was never fond of cold green tea.

**Past**

I found myself running up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment, but why do I care so much if she's ok. Now that she's seen Chaos maybe she'll leave. I came around the corner and saw her peeking into the open door of my apartment. The outfit I wore wasn't the quietest apparel. She heard me coming before I could get any more than five feet from her. I took a few apprehensive steps towards her, unsure of what she would do or say. Would I have to kill her now? Would she expose me? I stared at her for a while as these thoughts raced through my head. I finally forced the question out of my mouth, but tried not to sound too concerned. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah... I take it that's why no one lives here." She said stammering a little bit. I acknowledged that much with a nod and moved fast to get past her into my apartment, but she dove in front of me. I jerked back as if she was fire and to touch her meant being burned.

"I'm not scared, and I'm not going anywhere. You're my friend." I winced at these words. Did she truly not understand?! I didn't want to flat out say it but one of these days Chaos _will_ kill her. However, her charm won me over again and I found myself inside her house again for that sweet green tea. I damned that liquid for having such an effect on me. It was so good that I traded my story for it. I never imagined telling another person this story, but that night I told her...

I looked at her face and saw a pained expression. Why? Why was she hurting for me? I turned away from her, but felt her hand touch my arm. I took it away from her. "Don't." I told her. Don't ever touch me again please. I thought as the tingling in my arm wouldn't fade after her hand left it. I looked ahead at the blank TV desperate for some kind of distraction from her.

She asked me why Chaos made me so sick and offered to take care of me each time he did. Why? I looked at her again trying to find a reason not to trust her because I just knew there was one. I looked away and drank my tea. Instead of accepting her offer I stood quickly and told her I was leaving and that I could take care of myself as I had been for the past 30 years. I then watched her recoil a bit and look around as if she was about to do something she was unsure of. Suddenly she flew at me and wrapped her arms around me. I couldn't stop the gasp from escaping my lips as her body hit mine. I bit my lip and clenched my fists in attempt to fight against the urge to squeeze her in my arms and burry my face into her lovely smelling hair. She said something about caring about me I was too busy trying to stop myself from hugging her back that I could barely listen to what she was saying. I pulled away from her and let her know I didn't need anyone to care about me for I do not even care about myself. I left her apartment and stood outside the door for a moment. This is the last circumstance I'd ever believe I'd find myself in. What was I going to do with her...?

I took a step towards my apartment door when I heard the shuffling of feet. I turned my head and looked down the hall and saw a dark figure pass by and head for the stairway. I used Chaos's power and dashed to the end of the stairs in less than a second. George...

**Present**

When night fell I returned to the bedroom and laid down on the bed. Amaya should be calling me soon. I laid there for an hour waiting for my cell phone to ring. Finally it did and I answered it eagerly.

"Hello?"

"Vincent!" she cried. I smiled.

"Yes?"

"I miss you so much! I'm literally dying out here." She whined. I imagined her childlike pouty face and smiled again. Never had it been so natural for me to smile this much.

"You're not dying." I said simply. "So, how's the internship?"

"Uh... I totally didn't know by internship they meant crap jobs! I've been making coffee and carrying around doughnut trays all damn day and sitting down watching everyone else work. Every once in a blue moon my Aunt will let me answer one of her calls and help solve a problem on someone's computer. She's travelling to Alaska next month and she might take me with her! I'll send you pictures, ok?"

"See? You're not dying. You're having plenty of fun." I said rolling over on my side so I could see the picture of her and I next to the bed.

She sighed. "I guess so, but I really miss you. My mom is _still_ on our cases though. Good thing Aunt Meg is actually on our side. My mom told her to make sure I wasn't keeping in contact with you. Hey! I got my computer hooked up here, wanna webcam with me?"

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed and walked down the hall to the study where the computer was. "Sure."

It took me a while to log in, but once I finally was and she was as well her gorgeous face appeared on the screen. She smiled really big and waved at me. I smiled back feeling a bit awkward. We still held our phones to our ears.

"Oh, just cause I'm not around you don't comb your hair anymore?" she asked sticking her tongue out at me. I ran my fingers through my hair. Without her nagging me about it, no I didn't comb it. Nor did I wash it properly.

"Hmph." I replied staring at her. She must have just come back from her job as she was dressed in a white dress shirt and her hair was curled. I just knew men everywhere had to of been staring at her. That thought alone made me want to forget about Chaos and rush to San Diego as soon as I could.

"What's wrong?" she asked titling her head to the side. "Hey go get Yume! I wanna see my baby girl!"

I quickly walked around whistling for the dog. Poor little Yume looked so depressed. I braced myself for her to get excited again once she saw her owner. I carried the little dog in the room and held her up so Amaya could get a good look at her. Yume didn't seem to recognize her mom on the screen at first but as soon as she heard her voice she barked happily and danced around in my lap. Her sharp little nails stabbing into my thighs.

"So what's wrong? You look like you're mad about something." She said.

I shook my head no and smiled. "I just miss you as well."

"Aww!! Vincent! I love you."

"I love you too." I said leaning on the desk with the dog in my lap. Suddenly another girl walked into the room.

"Who's that?" I heard her ask Amaya.

"This is the guy I was telling you about. The one my mom doesn't want me talking to. Isn't he a hottie?"

I rolled my eyes. I then looked back at the girl on the screen as she leaned in closer looking at me as if I couldn't see her. She squinted her eyes taking a really good look. I felt somewhat violated.

"Hm... he's ok, I guess. Oh! Hi!!" she screamed into the phone as if I couldn't hear her well. Glad to know I'm both deaf and blind.

"This is my cousin Kumiko. She's interning too. We're in like a competition to see who will get promoted first." The two girls gave each other a mock glare then Kumiko left.

"Anyways, if I ever don't call your or something it's because of my mom. She's super serious about this us not being together bullshit." She rolled her eyes as she said that.

I honestly wasn't worried about it. If I absolutely had to...no I couldn't that's her mother... I quickly erased the option of letting Chaos take care of her.

"We have forever, Amaya. No one is going to live long enough to keep us apart." I assured her with a slight smile. She grinned back.

"I'm glad to see you being the positive one for once." She winked at me.

Amaya and I talked for an hour later then she let me know she had to go so she could shower and get plenty of rest tonight. I let her go and went to bed myself. My plans of sleeping all this time away were ruined. I couldn't sleep. I missed having that other person to cling onto at night. Since when have I been a clingy person? I asked myself with a look of disgust on my face. I sighed and closed my eyes again. At least Amaya was ok. I was glad she was letting herself have fun and not worry so much about me. On that note, sleep finally took over me.


	3. Oh, San Diego

**Before and After 102**

**Oh San Diego**

Three weeks it's been since I've been out here at my Aunt Meg's place. She never mentioned that her stepdaughter Kumiko lived here with her. I always thought Kumiko lived in Japan with her father. Having another girl my age and in my same situation made things a little easier. She had her boyfriend back home was well… but he was all the way in Japan.

Today was a normal day at work. First thing make coffee, go get doughnuts, and then go around refilling coffee, more doughnuts. Next I would get a minute to sit in on a call or even go to a meeting where they discussed new software or the next upcoming operating systems. On Thursday nights all the interns were required to go to a night class. Well it shouldn't really be called a class since there were no grades or no real assignments, but it was literally teaching us everything we needed to know about building software for computers and all the troubleshooting behind it.

In the evenings the interns went around filling papers, shredding papers and if we were lucky we may get to take over someone's spot during the shift change where the morning workers left and the evening workers arrived.

After six o'clock we were finally able to go home. Kumiko and I road in a cab together every night out to dinner and then home or to Aunt Meg's. My feet always hurt so terribly. It didn't even matter if I wore flats or heels my feet would ache by the end of the day. I kicked off my shoes by the door and ran upstairs to the room I shared with Kumiko and plopped down on the bed. I dug out my cell phone to see that I had missed a call from a strange number. I shrugged it off assuming it must have been someone who dialed the wrong number. I scrolled down to Vincent's name and pressed the call button. I rolled over on my back and stared up at the ceiling while I waited for him to answer. I pulled the clip that was digging into the back of my head as I lay, out of my hair and sat it on the table beside my bed.

"Hello…" Vincent always sounded so down when I talked to him. It hurt me to think that he was even possibly sad without me there.

"Hey sexy!" I said trying to sound cheerful even though I was really sad without him here. This experience would be so much better if he could only be here with me.

"Hey…how is everything?" he asked.

"Pretty good. I just miss you so damn much. Oh…hey there's someone else on the line, can I call you back really quickly?" I heard a beeping that indicated another call.

"Sure…" he said before hanging up.

I answered the other call. "Hello?"

"Hello…uh…is this Amaya Arai?" a male voice asked. I was a bit shocked.

"…ye…s." I answered slowly, a bit confused. The guy chuckled at my confusion.

"This is Hideki. You probably don't remember me, but uh… I just ran into your mom last week and she said I should give you a call." He said. I swallowed hard. Hideki was one of my ex boyfriends in between my on and off relationship with Trace. I broke his heart when I had to confess to him that I was still in love with Trace and I could no longer see him.

"Uh… oh, of course she would… My mother is always trying to set me up with people, but actually I..." I don't know what made me hesitate to say that I was taken, but in those seconds of silence Hideki cut back in.

"The reason why I wanted to give you a call is that I'm going transferring to a college out there and it would be nice to meet up and hang out with someone I know. You know, there's nothing scarier than moving to a new place and feeling totally alone."

The kind Amaya that could never say no instantly chimed in. "Oh, of course. When are you coming?"

"Next week." He answered. Something seemed a bit weird about the whole situation, but nevertheless I agreed to meet up with him when he got here. He didn't say anything that sounded like he wanted to hang out as more than anything but friends so I didn't feel like it would be wrong. We talked a while longer about simple stuff like how our families had been and our career plans for the future. I glanced over at the clock and realized that we had been chatting for over an hour.

"Oh! I'm sorry to cut you off, but I promised someone I'd call them back after I answered the phone to you." I said.

"Oh, ok. Well, see you next week." He said.

"Alright, bye." I hung up with him and quickly dialed Vincent's number. It rang and rang but he never answered. I called him three more times and he didn't answer. I prayed he wasn't angry at me.

**∞∞**

Next week was here quicker than I was ready for it and I found myself in a taxi with none other than Hideki himself. I was shocked at how handsome he had gotten over the years and by the way he stared at me I assumed he liked what he saw as well. My stomach churned as I began to feel bad. Vincent would flip out if he knew I was going to dinner with another guy, it didn't matter what my motives were he would be mad.

Today was a Saturday so I didn't have to go to work today or tomorrow. After dinner with Hideki, I was supposed to meet up with Kumiko at a club downtown. Aunt Meg had a new man she was seeing and he was taking her to a jazz concert Palm Springs and they wouldn't be back until tomorrow evening.

The restaurant Hideki took me too was very classy and the menu was ridiculously expensive. I looked around at the plates coming in for other tables and the portions of food were so tiny! As I scanned the menu looking for something I could try to choke down my phone rang loudly in my purse. I quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Amaya… is everything ok?" Oh right, it was Saturday and I hadn't called Vincent yet. He knew I didn't work on the weekends and at the very least expected a call from me on each of these days if I couldn't talk to him through the week.

"Yes, everything's fine. I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. Kumiko and I have been hanging out all day and we're going to a club later."

"Amaya…" Vincent said with a tone I understood meant that I better not do anything stupid.

"I know I know. I'll be a good girl." I said smiling as I looked down at the table.

"You had better be." He warned. I continued smiling. Even though I hated when Vincent switched over into that fatherly mode, he still made me smile.

"I will."

"I'll let you go then…" he said with a sigh.

"Ok." I looked away and spoke in a quieter voice. "I love you."

"Goodbye, Amaya." He said hanging up on me without returning the words. I tried to believe that was just him being him, but I needed to hear him say it more often. Anyways, I looked up at Hideki hoping what I was about to say wouldn't hurt his feelings.

"That was my boyfriend, Vincent… If you've talked enough with my mom you'll know she is _not_ happy that I'm with him." I sighed as I looked down at my menu, afraid to look the poor guy in the face. I jumped slightly as I felt him touch my hand with his.

"Does he make you happy?" he asked looking me dead in my eyes. I nodded quickly. "Do you love him?"

"With all my heart." My voice quivered slightly with emotion. Hideki took his hands off mine and leaned back in his chair.

"Then that's all that matters. Well, there's one more question… Does he mistreat you?" It felt a little weird answering these questions from Hideki, but I did it honestly.

"No, he would never intentionally mistreat me or anyone. He's a really good guy, it's just… he's been through a lot so he doesn't trust people so that's what makes him come off so cold sometimes."

A waitress came over and interrupted us as she placed a glass of water in front of both of us and took our order. I had no idea what I was getting so I just said "same" after Hideki ordered. Throughout the rest of the dinner he continued to question me about Vincent and I pretty much just ended up telling him the entire story of how we met and our relationship. I left out all the details about the demons inside him and how one of them gets completely out of control sometimes. It felt good to talk about it to someone new. He listened very intently and advised me to just wait things out with my mother and that she'd eventually come around. Dinner with Hideki was great after all and clubbing with Kumiko was even better…

The two of us stumbled into the empty condo together laughing loudly at completely nothing. "Let's drunk dial our boyfriends…"

Kumiko said once we landed on the couch together. I stopped laughing. "Vincent would kill me if I drunk dialed him. He didn't want me drinking out here…" I giggled. "I promised I'd be a good girl."

Kumiko laughed. "Yeah right…my Ryou-chan knows me better to think I'm a good girl." She stared up at the ceiling with a naughty grin on her face. She dug around in her purse for the longest time before she picked up her cell phone and called her boyfriend. I listened for awhile as she slurred sweet nothings to him.

I found myself sobering up quickly when I heard my phone ringing an hour later. It was three in the morning here so it must have been five in the Midwest. Vincent was the only person that would call me at that time so I didn't even look at the screen as I flipped it open and answered.

"Hey sexy…" I said trying to sound tired instead of drunk.

"Did you make it home alright?" Woah this was not Vincent!

"Hideki?!" I exclaimed. "Uh…yeah I'm home ok… I…thought you were my boyfriend calling."

He chuckled. "That's ok. I don't mind being called sexy." I sobered up real quick when I heard his flirtatious comment.

"Yeah…well… Vincent would fly here and destroy the whole city if he thought I called another guy sexy. Hey… I'm about to go to sleep so I'll talk to you later." I said sitting up and pulling off my high heels. My heels were so marked up from wearing uncomfortable shoes…

"Ok, sleep well." He said. I frowned at my phone as I hung it up. Did he not realize what me having a boyfriend means? He shouldn't be calling me and talking to me like that. I shook my head. I couldn't worry about it now… After I took a long shower I went to bed.

∞∞

Sundays became Vincent's and my official webcam day. We would spend up to six hours, separated by small breaks, talking to each other like this. I looked in the mirror really fast before I went to go log in. I dropped eyedrops in my eyes to take away the redness and smoothed my hair back into a low ponytail. I didn't even bother getting dressed. Doing laundry was such a hassle here because the laundry mats were always so crowded there's even at least six other people in there at all hours of the night and early morning.

Once I was satisfied with how I looked at the moment I picked up the phone and sat down at the computer. A grin spread across my face as soon as I saw Vincent sitting there in front of me. He barely smiled back.

"Hi there!" I said waving and giving him the cheesy grin I could. He rolled his eyes and his tiny smile widened a bit.

"Amaya." He nodded in response to my greeting.

"Whatcha doin?" I asked in a sing song type of voice.

"Looking at you." He said honestly. "How was your night? You look quite tired."

I nodded. "It was fun. Kumiko's a blast." I grinned thinking of the awesome club she took me to last night. The spotlight was on us for a while as we danced on tables and participated in all the body shots. I never let another guy drink anything off me, though so in that sense I was a good girl.

"Mm hmm." Vincent looked into the camera at me. He narrowed his eyes at me as he asked. "Were you sober?"

"O..of course!" I said. Not even through a web cam, could I lie to this man.

"Amaya. I'm not playing around with you. You know I am not the one to play games. When I said I didn't want you drinking out there I meant it. You don't know that place well enough to just run around letting loose doing everything you're big enough to do."

I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. "Vincent, I'm young and I'm just trying to have fun! Relax!"

Vincent only frowned in response. He looked away and then back at the screen. "The moment I relax, something will happen to you and I'll never be able to forgive myself."

"What I do is not your problem."

"It _is_ my problem, you're the one I love! When I fall in love with someone, I love _hard._" Vincent got up out of his chair and walked away, but stayed on the phone with me. It hurt me not to be able to chase him down and make him look at me when he was talking to me.

I sighed loudly. "I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry Amaya and you're only going to keep doing what you want to do. This is exactly why I should have never let you in." he said.

"Stop talking like that. There's no room for regret now, Vincent. Not after what I've done…" I said referring to the fact that I am now immortal for him.

"Your motivation for doing that mustn't have been clear. If you _really_ loved me that much you'd listen to me." His voice was softer and by the tone he sounded a bit hurt.

Being the emotional person I am, I instantly started crying. "I _do_ love you Vincent. But you know I can't say no to people. Kumiko, my cousin is just like another Rena. They provoke me." I sniffed and wiped my eyes.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. If that's all you have for me today then I'd rather end this conversation here." His tone and returned to its normal monotone and I could almost feel him shutting me out.

"Fine." I replied. "I guess I'll talk to you later then…"

He hung up without saying goodbye or anything and left me to lie on my bed and cry. Kumiko came into the room looking a mess in her huge grey suit pants, tiny white T-shirt and her hair up in a huge bun right on top of her head.

"What's wrong?" she asked plopping down on the bed next to me.

"Vincent's mad at me." I said through my sobs. I wasn't really crying because he was mad, but just because I was starting to feel as he if he was regretting allowing himself to fall for me and that hurt.

"Psh… don't let a man make you cry. If he makes you cry he's probably not worth it anyways. You should dump him and get with that Hideki guy. He was super hot!" she said shoving my shoulder playfully and giggling.

"No…I really love Vincent. I'm starting to feel like the decision to come out here was a big mistake." I sat up and wiped my eyes.

"Girl, if it wasn't for you worrying about him all day we'd be having a blast out here! I vote dump him." She said as she hopped off my bed and skipped off to the bathroom where I could hear her hacking up her insides. I sighed loudly and crawled back underneath my covers. There's no way I'd dump Vincent. There's no way I'd even let him dump me! And something about Hideki seems fishy…


	4. Deal or No Deal

**Before and After 102**

**Deal or No Deal**

It had now been a month and barely a week since Amaya left and I was finally starting to feel the loneliness. With only a dog to keep me company throughout the week until I could see her face on Sunday, it was getting to be a bit harder than I thought it would be. Rena let me know a few days prior that Amaya's mother had been trying to contact me. I couldn't imagine what for. I'd rather not hear anything she would have to say. Amaya and I were having enough problems of our own right now, she didn't need to interfere and make things any worse. I thought back to when I first met this woman…

**∞****Past****∞**

Today seemed to be a good time to go over and visit Amaya. Everything seemed to calm down a bit since I murdered George. It made me feel sick to think I still had that Turk ability to take a person's life like that, but it had to be done. These people will all eventually die anyways. I'm the one that will be here forever suffering from the consequences they put me in. So to avoid it, anyone who poses a threat to me will die early. I straightened my shirt and ran a hand over my hair before knocking on her door.

As the door opened I almost stepped forward to accept a hug from Amaya, but instead a little woman with her hair pulled back so tightly it raised her eyebrows. She was a pretty woman for her age and I knew right away this must have been Amaya's mother. The resemblance was very obvious. She stared at me with a glint of suspicion in her dark eyes. She stood no more than 5 foot, and was very petite in all. I suddenly realized it would be appropriate to speak and to make a good impression on this woman I tried to sound as polite as I could. "Hello ma'am, is Amaya here?" I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and was instantly relieved.

"Hai…" the woman said before calling out Amaya's name.

"Vincent!" she cried out with that gorgeous smile upon her face. I nodded at her, but quickly looked back at her mom that was still staring at me suspiciously. I felt that I was intruding a bit so I said.

"I'll leave if you're busy." I had honestly planned on taking Amaya out to the restaurant I knew. I really just wanted to watch her devour those chicken strips again. I even wore white for her today…

She let me know they weren't busy and introduced me to her mother, Manami Arai…

**∞****Present****∞**

Night had begun to fall and tonight I would be releasing Chaos. I took off my shirt to prevent ripping it to shreds during the transformation, and walked outside. I noticed lights from a car not too far from the house. The road they were on only led here. If they kept going past the house after another five miles they would come to a dead end. I stood on the porch wondering what was taking so long for the car to come closer when I realized it wasn't even moving. My blood boiled at the thought of being spied on and I ran back inside to grab my gun.

When I returned the car was gone. My body jerked as Chaos threatened to break loose. I let him take control and flew into the night.

When he finally calmed down I began walking back to the house. Sometimes Chaos would take me three or more miles away and I'd have to walk back. These walks used to be somewhat therapeutic, though without Amaya at the house I didn't need this extra time to myself anymore. At the thought of her I began to jog wondering if she had tried to call.

Once inside again I checked my phone and realized she had called it twice. I called her right back. I intended to ask her if she knew of her mother's attempts to contact me. There was no doubt in my mind that the car had been a spy and who else would have sent a spy out here but her.

"Hey Vincent, what's up?" she said as she picked up the phone.

"Have you spoken with your mother?" I asked her as I walked into the bathroom and put the phone in between my shoulder and my cheek as I washed my hands and took a cloth to get some of the dirt off of my body from being dropped to the ground after my transformation from Chaos.

"No why…what's she done?" the pep disappeared from her voice.

"Rena told me she had asked her where I stayed… and today I saw spies out here." I immediately regretting telling her this because I knew it would just make her worry. She sighed loudly.

"Damnit… Vincent, I don't know what to tell you it's not like anything I say to her is gonna change how she thinks."

I walked out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed thinking of what to do. I was silent for so long Amaya had to ask if I was there.

"Yeah…" I answered. " Well, I did not intend to worry you about this I just wanted to know if maybe she had talked with you first…"

"No, I haven't heard from her. Hold on a sec." she paused and then I heard her yelling for her aunt. After trying to listen to their conversation and not getting much out of it Amaya had focused her attention back on me.

"Aunt Meg said that she heard from her and she said to make sure that I wasn't talking to you, but I already knew about that. My mom was thrilled about my decision to come out here because she was so sure this would break us up. I don't know why she's so damn concerned about this. You're a great guy! I love you! That should be all that matters…"

I laid back on the bed and sighed again. "I love you too." I said realizing it had been a while since I've said that to her. I could feel her smiling through the phone.

"I just want to be there with you. I wanna cuddle you." She giggled. I chuckled softly and we continued our conversation for the next few hours as if nothing was wrong. I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep on her listening to her gorgeous laugh.

I woke up the next morning with an imprint of the phone on my cheek. The phone was completely dead from being left open, the first thing I did was attach it to its charger then left to go fix myself something to eat.

The phone rang.

I stood up from the kitchen table and walked across the room to the phone. "Unknown Number" it read. I narrowed my eyes as I snatched the phone off the wall.

"Who is this?" I demanded.

"Is that anyway to talk to a woman you wish to make your mother in law?" Her evil laugh afterwards sent a chill down my spine. It's been a while since I've had that feelings…

"Hmph. Would it matter? It seems you'll do anything in your power to prevent that from happening."

She continued to laugh.

"What do you want?" I asked.

She cleared her throat. "I was just curious how you are doing? Still keeping in touch with my daughter?"

I walked to the open window and snatched the curtains closed. The feeling of being watched washed over me and pushed me into paranoia. I grabbed my gun that sat carelessly on an end table in the living room. I hesitated to answer her question. I could either let her know exactly how I feel or play her little game and tell her what she wanted to hear. I chose the first option.

"I know you've sent spies out here and I know you are trying to keep Amaya from contacting me. But mark my words it'll _never _happen." I lowered my voice into the tone that would normally scare people. Ms Arai laughed at it.

"Aa, sou ka… Well then let me tell you this… I've done my research and I know all about you Mr. Valentine and unless you want the world to know what you truly are, you _will_ leave my daughter alone."

I clutched the phone so tightly in my hand I heard the plastic crack under the pressure. I swallowed hard. "You don't know who you're dealing with…"

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with Vincent Valentine! Former Turk! You are nothing but a disgusting, evil demon and you deserve the eternal suffering that scientist gave you. I even got a record of all your jobs completed while you worked for that horrible company. How can you live on knowing what you've done to all those people? You've murdered countless men even women and chil…"

"You think I don't regret that?!" I felt Chaos stirring inside me feeding off my intense rage. I took a few breaths trying to calm down but she continued to taunt me with the things I've spent thirty years trying to forget.

"…was even responsible for an assassination of a presidential candidate. My my, what a resume you've got here. And you wonder why I don't want you with my daughter?!"

I did all I could not to scream and throw the phone in rage. I stood there holding the phone with a quivering hand. I was speechless. But the only thing I was thinking of now was who told her.

"So do we have a deal?"

She was very lucky to be Amaya's mother otherwise she would be dead. I slammed the phone shut without answering her question. I stormed around the house for hours doing all I could not to break things. I clenched my gun so tightly in my hand that I accidently shot it. Yume began to whine and cry in her cage. She put her head down and her paws up over her ears looking up at me with her sad puppy dog eyes as I passed by her cage. I let her out and she ran off to hide. I'd hide from me too at this moment.

I had to go outside and let Chaos out again to stop him from stirring. I was so angry it was almost a relief letting Chaos take control instead of a burden. He handled anger much better than I did…

After releasing Chaos I took a shower and just tried to go to bed. It was only six in the evening but I didn't care. If I was awake for another hour I was going to break something or kill someone. However much like I expected, sleep wouldn't come and the more I laid there in the silence the more I began to think. Who the hell told her? Shinra? We made a deal! Shinra was notorious for plenty of other dirty deeds, but they always kept their word. I clenched the pillow next to me in a death grip as I continued to think of all the possibilities of who could have told Ms Arai.

My cell phone rang and I answered it knowing it was Amaya. "Hello." The word came out rougher than I had intended.

"Whoa… what's wrong, sweetie?"

I sighed. "Sorry, nothing. How was your day?"

She was quiet for a while. "It was…ok, I guess…" I caught a hint of doubt in her voice but didn't try to press her about it.

"Hear from your mother yet?"

"No…" she still sounded doubtful or maybe she was flat out lying.

"Amaya. I have bad news. Your mother knows everything… she's threatened to expose me if I don't stop talking to you. I…I'm not quite sure what to do."

"I know! Ok, yes I did hear from her today. I didn't want to mention it to you because I knew it would make you very angry." Her voice returned to its normal tone.

"Indeed." Angry was an extreme understatement of how I felt.

"Don't make the deal with her. I've got it under control. She's not going to do anything to jeopardize my situation so let me take on all her wrath. Just tell her to get a life and leave you alone."

"But Amaya if she…"

"I know…I know… ok here's a better idea. Let's just not talk for a while. In five months during the week of Valentine's Day, I'm coming home, ok? I'll see you then and we'll figure this out. Until then keep your end of the deal and I'll continue to try and fix this problem."

I sighed. "Five months…"

I heard her begin to sob. "Yeah… but it'll be ok. I love you, Vincent. I don't want anything bad to happen to you because of me."

"Amaya you know how I feel about you. I'd do anything for you. If it absolutely came down to it… as long as I still have you I don't care if I'm exposed. I can't die… nothing anyone does is going to kill me or keep me locked down… it will just make life much harder to live with the world after me."

Amaya was silent after that. I couldn't tell if it was because she was shocked or what…


	5. A Week of Laughter and Tears

ok yeah... writer's block is gone I guess...

**Before and After 102**

**A Week of**** Laughter and**** Tears**

Five months couldn't be any longer for me without speaking to Vincent and the plane ride to him was even longer. And if that wasn't bad enough, before I could even run home to Vincent I had to face my mom who was there to pick me up at the airport. I was sure this was just her excuse to see if Vincent and I were still in contact with one another. I put on a fake smile and attitude as I greeted her with a hug and road to Rena's with her. Rena and I had her convinced that I was living with Rena in her new apartment. However, once she left, I made Rena hurry me to my real home.

"Does Vincent know you're coming?" Rena asked as we pulled up to the house. I smiled. He knew I would be here in five months but he didn't know the exact day. She squealed and grabbed her camera ready to capture the dramatic moment that was about to take place. I hopped out of her car and ran up the porch steps to bang on the door.

Vincent who obviously noticed there had been someone outside flung the door open and pressed Cerberus against my forehead. "Uh… honey I'm home?" I squeaked out. Vincent's eyes widened and he lowered his gun.

"Amaya…" he bent down and sat his gun right there on the ground before pulling me into a rough embrace. Rena clicked several pictures.

"Vincent, I missed you so much." I said holding him just as tight as he was holding me. He turned his face to the side and kissed my cheek before kissing my lips more passionately than ever before. I grabbed his hair tightly in my hands and he did the same with mine and he kissed me deeper and deeper until I thought he was going to suck my damn lips off.

"Ok ok… geez. I'm not a pornographer." Rena said putting down the camera. Vincent paid no mind to her and pulled me inside the house, his lips never leaving mine. He kicked his gun inside with his foot and kicked the door shut all without breaking the kiss. I heard Rena yelling outside but it was soon drowned out as I got lost in the passionate kisses which slowly lead us into more and more until we were fully naked and under the sheets of our bed.

The next thing I knew I was laying next to Vincent, panting and all sweaty. I looked up at Vincent who was already staring down at me. He smiled slightly and kissed my forehead.

"Welcome home." He said smirking and then we both laughed for a while. It was like we couldn't stop laughing and it was the hardest I had ever seen Vincent laugh since I met him and it made me love him that much more. When we finally stopped laughing we stared at each other for the longest time with stupid smiles on our faces.

"You are so cute." I said nuzzling him with my nose to his nose. He kissed me again.

"You are so beautiful." He replied with a sigh and kissed me again scooping me up in his arms so I could rest my face against his chest. I was so glad to hear those words from him. Then my stomach growled.

"Vincent… I'm hungry. You didn't even give me time to eat anything or to even say hi to my Yume!" I shot off his chest and looked down at him. He smiled.

"Just couldn't resist you." He muttered, half sarcastically as he sat up, gathering the blankets around him so he wasn't totally exposed. I wasn't as modest as I hopped out of the bed naked and ran over to the closet to grab some underwear and pajama pants and a tank top to wear. Vincent put his clothes back on and followed me to the kitchen while I tried to make the best out of the sparse groceries.

"Damn… you need to go grocery shopping." I said eating the grilled cheese I made. Vincent shrugged I was starting to feel uncomfortable under his longing stare. "Stop it." I slapped at his chest. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. He helped himself to a bite of my grilled cheese.

"Tomorrow you're definitely taking me to the city so we can buy you some food. I'm gonna be here for a week, you know." I leaned against the counter and smiled at him. Yume barked and scratched at her cage. I put down my sandwich and ran to her.

"Yume!! My little girl!" She jumped up into my arms licking my face before running around like crazy. Vincent stood off to the side smiling. We were both all smiles until later that night when we knew we were going to have to talk about the situation at hand.

We sat on the couch, me in Vincent's lap, and talked. "The main thing I don't want to happen is you getting exposed and having the whole world chasing after you." I said looking at him. He nodded.

"That's the biggest bullet we need to dodge." He added.

"Vincent…why don't you come back to San Diego with me?" I asked him. He sighed loudly

"Amaya, you know why."

"My mom is going to eventually expose you anyways so why not just come out there. At least you are nowhere near her. And we can keep it a secret for a while." I put on my best puppy dog sad face even tilted my head to the side. "And when my mom does decide to go to the police again they'll have a harder time finding you out there."

Vincent frowned for a while then gave a slight nod. Then he looked at me. "If you want to just continue to not talk… It's fine with me."

I slapped his knee lightly. "Damnit Vincent. I wanna be with you. Forever isn't good enough I want to spend every single day with you." I poked my lip out at him.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, Amaya. I'll do whatever you want me to do, I suppose."

I gave him a light tap on his head. "Good boy." He glared at me and let a low growl escape. I giggled at his attempt to scare me and then gave him a peck on his lips.

The rest of the evening we bummed around in our pajamas, watching TV and eating junk food. That's the only thing Vincent made sure he had in his kitchen. He seemed pretty down, but then I quickly remembered Vincent wasn't known for his peppiness even if this was the first time he's seen me in almost eight months. I tried to make the evening more fun as we played a few rounds of a new car racing game that Vincent rented from a rental store and never returned. When I scolded him his response was "Might as well, I'm a criminal after all."

Finally it was time for bed and since I showered first I had to lay in bed alone and wait for Vincent to shower. He was taking his sweet time that was for sure. I sighed loudly and turned off the TV that hung in the corner of the room. Vincent walked out of the bathroom drying his hair. He slipped under the sheets next to me smelling fresh and clean. I just wanted to make him dirty again. Vincent read the look right off my face.

"Not in the mood…" He still seemed a bit down from our talk early about what we were going to do. I sighed trying to understand what he was going through. How would I feel if I held a secret like his that would turn the world against me? At least he wasn't considering killing my mother…

I snuggled against him and placed my hand on his chest. He wore a black T-shirt and silky black pajama pants as usual. "I loooove you." I sang to him.

He sighed. "I know you do."

I gave up on trying to cheer him up and fell asleep. The next morning I woke up around ten in the morning to find that he was already gone. I prayed he was in the city buying groceries. I curled up on the couch drinking orange juice and playing with Yume until Vincent came back at noon. He indeed had gone grocery shopping, but just enough for us to make it through this week.

I was so happy that he agreed to come out to San Diego with me, but I was going to have to hurt Hideki's feelings. He knew from day one that I was in love with Vincent so he should have been expecting this. But the idea of using him to fool my mother wouldn't leave my head so I decided to talk to Vincent about it in the kitchen.

"Hey Vincent, so like when you move to San Diego with me… just so that we can be extra…you know…clever, I have another idea."

"Tell me." He said not taking his eyes off the task of unloading groceries.

"Well, there's a guy there named Hideki and he's been you know, trying to get me to like him and stuff…"

Vincent stopped what he was doing and sent me a look.

"Oh! But he knows about you. I mean, like most of the time we are together it's just me talking to him about you. But I know my mom sent him, so I don't know if I can trust him..."

Vincent gave me another look that I read as 'go on…' So I did.

"Well, if I can trust him we could pretend to be a couple so that my mom will leave you alone. We could even take it as far as to have a fake wedding and keep it going for years! Mom would never know… And as long as Hideki is willing to cooperate… We can continue to be together."

Vincent closed his eyes briefly with a sigh. "Amaya…I don't care what is done anymore."

I frowned at that comment. Was that like saying he didn't even care if he was with me!? I crossed my arms and frowned down at the hardwood floors. After unpacking the groceries he pushed a box of my favorite cereal across the table towards me. "Have you had breakfast?"

"No, but I don't feel like eating anymore." I heard him sigh again as I turned away and walked back into the living room. I totally expected Vincent to have a better attitude than this… Vincent who evidently felt bad set a bowl of the cereal down on the coffee table.

"Eat." He said simply taking a seat next to me.

I sighed and reached for the bowl and began to eat. I was still really hungry. Vincent scooped closer and rested his arm across my shoulders. "It's not that I don't care about us, Amaya. But don't you think it would be better in the long run to just wait this out. If you just _have to have_ that person to cling to, why don't you date that man honestly? Marry him if you want to, I don't care. As long as when this is all over you'll still want me."

I couldn't stop a tear from running down my cheek. I fought the rest of them off and slammed the spoon full of cereal in my mouth. That is _not_ what I wanted. I _can't_ live without Vincent not five months, not one year… not a single _day_! Why can't he understand that!? I finished the bowl of cereal rather aggressively and slammed it down on the coffee table, milk shooting up out of the bowl and onto the table. Vincent quickly cleaned it up and took the dish to the kitchen.

"Amaya." He said firmly.

"Could you really just not see me for years and not care?" I asked him more tears streaming down my face.

Vincent grimaced and turned away.

"Vincent! We are in a relationship now, you can't hide your feelings from me otherwise this just isn't going to work." I stood up with my arms crossed glaring at the side of his face. He looked at me then looked away again.

"What part of forever don't you understand, Amaya? Soon we will have plenty of time together! I could spend every day looking forward to those moments and be fine without you." He walked towards me and tried to take my hands in his but I turned away.

"That's just you though… Normal people with normal feelings don't think that way… When you truly love someone you want to spend every moment with them… even if you do have forever. Because it's just not right when they aren't there and no matter what you have to look forward to in the future, the present is too unbearable." I said staring into his eyes. He blinked slowly before pulling me into his arms.

"You're right, I'm not normal. But Amaya you chose me. You should have known there would be times in this relationship that would be unbearable." His hands slid down my back and then he pulled away.

The rest of the week I was there was wasted away by me lying in bed crying. Vincent in a way had ended our relationship for now. He wouldn't even share a bed with me. I wanted to know how a week that started off so good could turn out this way. I remembered the way he looked at me when I first came back and how he gave me his all in our lovely 'welcome home' sex. All that just to break up with me!? A flood of tears poured from my eyes onto the soaked pillow. My plane would be leaving in three hours and I didn't know how I was going to pull myself together before then.

Eventually I did drag myself out of bed and into the shower where I cried some more before washing my face in an attempted to wash my tears away. It worked and I stepped out of the shower ready to get going. I dragged my small suitcase down the stairs and rolled it up to the door. I noticed Vincent didn't seem to be in a rush to go anywhere and he was the one taking me to the airport. He was lounging in the recliner still in his pajamas.

I could barely even look at him let alone speak so I didn't ask him. I went to the kitchen and tried to eat something. An hour later, I noticed Vincent starting to get ready. We should have already left thirty minutes ago! I finally got up the nerve to go speak to him. I ran up the stairs and into our bedroom where I saw Vincent packing a suitcase.

"What are you doing?" I asked I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. Vincent sighed.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He didn't bother to even glance at me until I tackled him with a hug.

"But why the sudden change of heart?"

He reached out and touched my face. "Can't stand to make you cry." He then turned back to his suitcase, zipping it shut. "Plus, I've been thinking… I need to get out… live a little."

I grinned. "Yay! So I'm guessing you changed the flights. We would have been super late."

He nodded. "But we should still get going… I'm not that comfortable flying…so Chaos won't be either. I need to buy some sleeping pills." I hugged him again and kissed him.

"Thank you." I said tearing up again.

Vincent shook his head. "Cry if I stay…cry if I go…can I do anything right?"

I gave him a seductive grin and a wink. Oh he could do plenty of things right.


	6. The Nicer Sister

**Before and After 102**

**The Nicer Sister**

Vincent wasn't kidding about those sleeping pills, he was on his way to passing out before we even boarded the plane. I was barely able to get him off once we arrived. 

"Amaya over here!" I heard Kumiko call out. I spun around with and turned to see my cousin dressed in a jean skirt and very loud yellow, orange and green tank top. She waved and smiled really big.

I was standing around waiting for Vincent's and my luggage while he sat down on the bench nearby. His head was leaned back and he appeared to be asleep again. Kumiko skipped up to me and put her arm around my shoulders as she watched the luggage roll by, none of it mine. 

"So how was it?" she asked. "Did you and your secret boyfriend meet up and stuff?"

I grinned mischievously.

"Uh oh…what happened?" she elbowed me in the side causing me to giggle loudly. I turned around and looked at the sleeping Vincent who was now lying down on the bench. I pointed in that direction, hoping Kumiko would recognize him from the webcam. 

She gasped. "What's he doing…?" she tilted her head to the side looking his way with a confused glance. "It wasn't _that_ long of a flight was it? Don't tell me you wore him out on the plane?"

I shushed her as many people shot odd glances our way. "No! He took too many sleeping pills. He doesn't like flying."

Finally our bags showed up and Kumiko helped me by grabbing Vincent's bag. I went over and shook Vincent.

"Hey! Let's go." I said pulling his arm. He slowly got up and walked behind Kumiko and me on the way to the car. I kept looking back to make sure he was coming and he was. Kumiko drove Aunt Meg's car back to her condo.

"Do you think she'll be alright with Vincent staying for a couple of days? Just until he finds someplace else?" I asked as we pulled up to the set of condos. 

Kumiko shrugged. "I doubt it." 

I looked at her very seriously. "You don't think she'd tell my mom, would she? Vincent and I _cannot_ afford that. It's way more serious than you think."

Kumiko shrugged again. "I doubt it." She repeated. "No offense, but my step mom's never really liked your mom anyways." She turned off the car and put the keys in her jean skirt pocket. "To be perfectly honest, I think the person you need to worry about is that Hideki guy. Your mom totally sent him here as a spy. Even I'm catching on to that and you know I'm not that bright."

"That's true…I was going to try to include him in the plan, but you're right I probably shouldn't trust him. Aunt Meg doesn't like her own sister? Why?" 

"Yeah, ask her to tell you the story of her first boyfriend." She said as we all started to get out of the car. Vincent got out on his own and leant up against it as Kumiko and I finished talking for a few minutes. She then left with the car, taking full advantage of having it for the day. 

Vincent followed me to my Aunt's condo and we walked inside together. "Pretty cool, huh? Not as big as our place back home…"

"Is there somewhere I can lay down and sleep off this medicine?" he asked immediately. He looked so adorable when he was tired I couldn't help grabbing him up in a hug.

I pulled away from him and grabbed my bag again rolling it into my room with Vincent following with his bag. "You can sleep on my bed." He looked down at the twin sized bed in the corner of the room. He took off his shoes and his bandana and laid down almost instantly falling asleep. I smiled and shook my head, but this bought me some time to talk to Hideki in private. 

I left the room and called his cell phone.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey what's up? I'm back!" I said trying to sound cheerful but stay quiet at the same time. Vincent could be a light sleeper when he wanted to be and that man's ears hear _everything_. 

"That's great! I missed you. So…uh… I guess you spent some time with that boyfriend of yours?" I smiled a whole new plan formed in my head. I would just have to continue to make Hideki think I'm falling for him so if he is going back and telling my mom everything he'll have her believing I'm with him. 

"I uh… saw him a few times yes. Because of my mom we are now on break." I lied. 

"Hmm… I see. Well, mother knows best, right? I mean would she really be this persistent in you not seeing someone unless she really felt them to be dangerous?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at this comment and decided but decided to go along with it.

"Yeah…yeah… well, I just thought I'd let you know that I'm back in town so maybe if you wanted to go out to dinner or something… like now."

"Sure!" he said, a little too enthusiastically. I hung up the phone with him and tipped toed around my room trying to find a different shirt. I took off the T-shirt I had on and put on a nice pink blouse. I brushed my hair neatly and put on some make up. I squirted some perfume all over me.

I jumped slightly when I heard a sneeze from behind me. I cursed softly thinking that he had awoken, but when I turned around to look at him he rolled over facing the wall still fast asleep. I tipped toed over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder as I leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. He muttered something inaudible then continued to sleep. 

∞∞

Two hours later I returned and saw my Aunt sitting on the couch typing on her lap top and talking on the phone about a problem with someone's wireless connection. Usually she'd never interrupt her conversations since they were pretty important but as soon as she saw me she told the person to hold on. 

"Amaya, there's a man in your bedroom!" she whispered loudly. Her face expressed pure horror.

"That's just my boyfriend Vincent. Is it ok if he stays here for a few days?" She held her chest as she sighed with relief. She nodded and continued with her phone call. I laughed softly at her reaction and felt bad for not letting her know ahead of time. 

I walked into my bedroom to find Vincent still fast asleep on my bed. I changed back into the T-shirt I had been wearing earlier and laid down next to him. Being that this was a twin sized bed, I was practically on top of him. I laid there quietly listening to my Aunt's phone conversation all the way from my bedroom. I decided that when I heard her wrap it up, I would wake Vincent to introduce him to her.

When she finally hung up I nudged the man next to me a couple of times. He groaned and I watched as his eyes opened.

"Good morning!" I grinned giving him a peck on the lips.

"…morning..." he muttered rolling his eyes. He yawned and sat up. "What time is it now?"

"I dunno, read the clock." I said pointing to the wall above him where my clock was. He sent me a glare before glancing up at it. It was now eight thirty at night. He yawned again and stretched his arms above his head. "Come on, I wanna introduce you to my Aunt Meg. She was scared when she found a man in my bedroom." I laughed loudly. Vincent smirked.

I pulled him into the living room where my Aunt was unplugging her lap top. Vincent looked around nervously as if already expecting to be disliked.

My aunt looked up and smiled. She, unlike my mother, was more of a plain Jane. Her black hair was worn straight down, parted right down the middle. She never wore make up, yet she didn't really need it. While my mom was 4'11, my aunt was 5'4 barely taller than me. She normally wore pants suits with no jewelry other than two very small diamond earrings. 

"This is the man that my mom has been making such a big deal about." I said nodding towards Vincent. She smiled even brighter and held her hand out too him. He instantly took it and gave her a firm hand shake.

"It's nice to meet you." He said softly. She sent me one of those looks that only women understand to mean 'wow what a handsome man.' 

"Nice to finally put a face to all this mayhem as well." She laughed softly. "Well, don't worry I won't tell Manami and Vincent you are welcome to stay here as long as you want. The girls and I are barely home as it is."

She sat back down on the couch and Vincent and sat down as well. Vincent took a seat in the chair by the couch. 

Aunt Meg looked at Vincent as if expecting him to do all the talking but I quickly spoke up. "Vincent's not much of a socialite."

Vincent snorted and Aunt Meg laughed. "That's ok. Well, you two I'm going to shower and head off to bed, but I want you both to know you have my support. I was once in your shoes, Amaya and it was your mother at the time as well that was at fault for me not being able to be with the person I loved." I smiled knowing she must have been talking about the story Kumiko mentioned earlier.

"Thanks Aunt Meg, you have no idea how much this means to us."

"I think I do." She winked at me and smiled at Vincent. 

Vincent looked at her with a light smile across his lips as well. 

∞∞

The few days I was right back to interning, leaving Vincent home alone most of the day. He did his part by keeping the house picked up he had already bought a new car for us to ride around in. My Aunt was floored by this but didn't ask any questions. Vincent and I thought it was better to keep his past a secret from her. He didn't want to lose a single bit of her trust. Another thing that happened this week was I had received a phone call from my mom. Apparently her spies let her know that Vincent was no longer living in the house out in the country which ultimately lead her to jump to the conclusion that Vincent was out here, but I told her to ask Hideki and hung up on her. After our dinner I was pretty sure I had him convinced that Vincent and I were no longer an item for now.

Today was finally Friday and I couldn't wait to spend some time with Vincent this weekend. "Vincent?" I asked walking into my room and kicking off my heels. 

He sat there playing solitaire on the computer.

"Yes…"

"I think we ought to change up your look a little bit, you know." I watched him frown. "That way we can run around in public and I don't have to worry about Hideki seeing us. Since we aren't exclusive, he shouldn't worry if he sees me with another guy besides you."

Vincent frowned deeper. "Change my look?"

"Yeah…I think next week you should visit the eye doctor for some colored contacts and after that… maybe the salon for a…" I made snipping noises while moving my hand in the air like scissors. 

Vincent grabbed a handful of his hair and looked down at it. He had that expression on his face like someone who doesn't want to give away their puppy or something. 


	7. Suspicion

**Before and After 102**

**Suspicion **

I stood with Vincent in the bathroom as he put in his new contacts. He was pretty skilled at it, getting them both in with just one try. He turned to me and blinked a few times. I grinned happily.

"You look hot!" The contacts he got were dark blue color. None of the lighter colors would cover his dark crimson eyes and even the blue looked a bit purplish, but it didn't take away from his manliness in the slightest bit. He looked back at the mirror frowning a bit.

"I don't see a dramatic difference." He said. I bumped him with my hip playfully.

"Just wait until we cut your hair and buy you some different clothes. You won't even recognize yourself." Vincent moved away from me without a word and left the small bathroom. Kumiko was next in line to judge him.

"Look at me." She said stopping him with her hands on his shoulders. He looked down at her. "Sweet! But now I can't tell people that I'm living with a vampire…" He sighed and rolled his eyes as he pulled away from her. She snickered and slapped his back gently. "Just kidding!"

"Hmph."

My aunt wasn't home otherwise she would have some input too.

* * *

Two days later it was time for Vincent to visit the salon. I couldn't go with him because I was at work but I couldn't _wait _to get home and see it. The last thing on my agenda today was a late class and that speaker couldn't have drawn out his speech _any_ longer! I looked over and even saw that Kumiko was pretty jittery as well. Kumiko was much like me in a sense that we both have one of those sensitive hearts. Vincent allowed me to tell her his tragic love story leaving out the part where he became part demon. Instead I lied and said he just survived the gunshot wounds and moved on to lead a life of loneliness just because he was so heartbroken. After hearing this she offered Vincent her friendship as well and he accepted it.

"Geez! I thought we'd never get out of there!" Kumiko exclaimed as we rushed outside of the huge building to the street to catch a cab.

"You're tellin me! I was two seconds away from dying! I'm so anxious to see how Vincent looks!" I squealed and so did Kumiko. We were both giggling as we entered the cab which explained the weird look the cab driver gave us.

Kumiko and I nearly raced each other to the door of our condo, stumbling inside once we got there.

"Vincent!" both of us called out at the same time.

We parted ways searching the condo for him. I went straight to the bathroom and caught Vincent leaning towards the mirror with his hands on the counter staring at himself with a deep frown. His hair was cut to about neck length; the ends were a bit jaggedy. His bangs were shorter but still almost covered one of his eyes.

"Aww… you don't like it, baby?" I asked him as I walked next to him and put a hand on his back. He didn't respond to my touch or my presence. Kumiko flew into the room.

"Whoa! It's hot, Vincent!" she said filling the already crowded bathroom.

Vincent closed his eyes and lowered his head. He walked out of the bathroom not saying a word to either of us. Kumiko and I exchanged weird glances.

"Well that's your broody boyfriend, I suggest you go deal with him. I'm going to take a _really_ long bath and then chill out for the rest of the night." Kumiko gave me a wave as if to shoo me out of the bathroom so I left and went to my bedroom where Vincent was sitting sideways on my bed with his back against the wall. He still looked very unhappy.

"What's wrong? It looks really great! I didn't think you were the type to get so upset over hair… I mean come on…" I said shutting the door and sitting down next to him.

"I wore my hair exactly like this while I was a Turk. Seeing myself in the mirror brought back some…horrific memories." He sighed and looked down at his hands.

I reached up and stroked his short hair. "Vincent…what's past is past… I'm pretty sure I've told you that before."

"If you had met me then, Amaya you wouldn't even be speaking to me right now." He turned and looked at me. He looked so attractive right now all I wanted to do was strip him naked and… He looked away and sighed. "I'm being serious."

"I know, I'm sorry. Anyways, Vincent you've changed, you're not that person anymore."

"You're the only one that thinks that way. Even your mother realizes the truth. I don't blame her at all for wanting to put an end to me. I deserve it."

I grabbed Vincent's face and pressed my lips against his. There was no use in trying to talk to him when he was in one of these moods. He didn't kiss back, but didn't move away either. He just sat there lifelessly as I kissed all over his face and neck. I unbuttoned the first button on his black shirt with my teeth then popped the rest of them off as I ripped open his shirt. He didn't even flinch or complain that I had ruined his shirt.

"Sweetie…" I whined giving him a pouty smile trying to cheer him up. He looked at me unamused. I pushed the black shirt off of his shoulders and pulled his arms out of the sleeves. He didn't move at all to help me undress him. As soon as my finger landed on the button of his black pants he stopped me.

"Not in your Aunt's house." He said sternly.

I sighed loudly. "Kumiko's taking a long bath and my Aunt won't be home for another hour or more."

Vincent shook his head no at my excuse. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my cheek against his bare chest. "Please?"

"No." he whispered. I made more whining noises but they didn't seem to affect him. I decided upon something that I thought would budge him. I planted a trail of kisses from his chest up to his neck where I nibbled at his 'spot.' Vincent sat upright and tried to push me off of him but I didn't let him. "Amaya, I said no. It's…disre…spect…ful." He groaned slightly as I rubbed my hands up and down his back while kissing his neck and nibbling at his ear another sensitive spot of his.

"It's only disrespectful if she finds out. Which she won't because the quicker we can get this started. The quicker we'll be finished." I said successfully unbuttoning Vincent's pants.

"Is the bedroom door locked?" he asked with a sigh of defeat.

"Mm hmm." I nodded at him with a sexy grin. He gave in and we made love for the next fifteen minutes or so. After that we laid in the bed in our underwear waiting for a turn in the bathroom. There was another bathroom in the place but it was Aunt Meg's.

* * *

The next few weeks were amazing. Work was getting better, but best of all I got to spend time with Vincent. He succumbed to my demands of breaking him out of his shell and he went with me to clubs. I even got him to dance with me although it only consisted of him standing there while I grinded all over him. San Diego, being the huge city that it is, allowed Vincent and I to stay out of Hideki's view although with Vincent's new do and the clothes that I bought for him there would be no way he'd recognize him from my mother's description. I kept him satisfied with a few phone calls and one quick dinner date that Vincent supervised secretly by taking out a friend of Kumiko's to the same restaurant.

Tonight was a Monday night and I had just come home from interning. Kumiko ran off immediately leaving the condo to Vincent and I. Vincent was busy sorting the laundry that had to be done while I checked the house phone for any calls specifically ones from my mother. As soon as I finished looking at that phone my cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Amaya? I was uh… just riding through your neighborhood and I wondered if it would be ok if I stopped by." Hideki said with his normal polite tone.

I swallowed hard. "Uh…sure." Vincent carried a bag full of white clothes to the back room where the laundry was done. I motioned for him to come over but he didn't see me.

"Ok then. I'll be there in probably a few minutes."

"Damnit!" I said after hanging up the phone. I ran into the laundry room startling Vincent as I barged through the door. He shook it off quickly and looked at me with the question "What?" written all over his face.

"Hideki is on his way over."

"I don't like that Hideki. Your mother obviously sent him here to stop us from being together so he cannot be trusted. I suggest you let him know you no longer wish to speak to him." He said giving me that look that told me he wasn't just _suggesting_ but demanding.

"Vincent…" I sighed loudly. "I'm trying to do all I can to keep my mom from exposing you! If it means playing games with her stupid goons then that's just what I'll do, ok? It's not about liking him." I put my hands on my hips and looked up at him.

He let out a long breath and shook his head. "All I'm trying to do is keep you safe."

"I don't think my mom would send anyone out here that would hurt me. Her whole purpose is to protect me from what she thinks is dangerous." I took a step towards him before attempting to hug him. In that moment the doorbell rang and Vincent pushed me away with his hand.

"Go on to that man." He muttered sourly turning away from me and loading the clothes into the washer. I stormed out of the room slamming the door behind me.

I ran to the door and answered it. Hideki stood there smiling. I noticed that his hair had been growing out a little bit and was almost the same length as Vincent's. I stepped aside so that he could come in.

"Nice place." He said looking around at all the cool artwork Aunt Meg had all over the walls. She even had an abstract looking six feet tall sculpture of twisting bars and circles in the corner of the room. Hideki took all this in before looking back at me.

"We haven't got to spend much time together…that's why I decided to come by." He said with that same smile on his face.

I smiled back with a nod. I offered him a drink and told him to sit on the couch. We sat together engaging in small talk for a few moments when suddenly we both heard a roar from the back room.

"What was that?" Hideki shot up and turned towards the noise.

"Uh…we have a dog!" I stood up as well and latched onto his arm as if preparing to stop him from further investigation.

"Wow, what kind?"

"Uh…" I thought back to my little Yume. I hoped Rena was taking good care of her. I couldn't think of another dog breed name so I answered. "It's just a mutt. A really huge mutt…"

When there wasn't another sound Hideki calmed down. After another ten minutes of talking I got him to leave.

I hurried into the back room and found Vincent sprawled out on the floor. His body jerked every few minutes and put off a hint of a red glow. I shut the door and locked it before hurrying to his side.

"Vincent." I shook him. Suddenly he flew into a standing position taking me with him. He moved in such an inhumane speed I knew Chaos was about to take control. His eyes were shut tightly and he was drenched in sweat. It was like he was trying his hardest not to lose control. But then he gripped my arms tighter and the black wings flew out of his back.

My eyes widened as I stared into the eyes of Chaos.


	8. Another One Bites the Dust

**Before and After 102**

**Another One Bites the Dust**

I was too afraid to even breathe as I stared into the golden eyes inches from mine. I had to look away from those powerful eyes and looked behind him at the black and red wings that were waving lightly. Chaos's silent stillness scared me now even more that he would probably be scaring me if he was violent. My mind was going wild with thoughts of what was about to happen.

Then something did.

The cursed dryer beeped loudly telling us it was done. The sound startled Chaos and in his fright he let my arms go. I dropped to the floor and crawled through his legs as quickly as I could, trying to escape. I felt a claw painfully grasp my ankle as I was almost to the door. I covered my mouth and muffled a scream. Chaos dragged me across the tile floor and lifted me in the air by my ankle. Tears instantly flooded my eyes and since I was upside down rolled backwards up into my hairline. The blood rushed to my head as well giving me a headache. "Please, don't hurt me." I repeated again and again as Chaos dangled me around as if I were a new toy. He then spun me around then held me upright. His eyes darted around my face. I was beginning to relax thinking that maybe he had no intentions of hurting me but then he hissed showing his fangs.

I cringed and pushed my face back as far as my neck would let me. Just as soon as I thought those sharp fangs were going to pierce my skin, Chaos let go of my arms again and flew back against the wall. He held his chest much like Vincent does when he feels Chaos trying to break through. I began to feel sorry for them both as I realized that the same pain the transformation caused Vincent affected Chaos as well. The wings disappeared and Chaos slid down the wall into a slumped form that became Vincent.

My legs felt like jelly because I was so nervous about what just happened. I took a few steps with my weak legs towards Vincent then squatted down in front of him.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah…are you?" I nodded at his question. He stood up and fixed his pants. He grabbed a black T-shirt from the dryer and threw it on quickly. To my surprise he didn't seem ill or anything.

"He didn't make you sick?" I asked reaching up and touching his forehead only to find out he didn't have a fever.

Vincent sighed. "I've been sick all this week it was only a matter of time before I became too weak to control him."

I looked away feeling ashamed that I had not been paying attention. It wasn't like Vincent to moan and complain when he was feeling ill so it was hard to tell unless you really looked at him, which I hadn't. Outside of the weekends, I didn't have time to be extra attentive to him.

"You don't have to feel bad, Amaya." He said reaching out for my arm to pull me closer to him. I hugged him closely and sighed into his chest.

"I've been so busy with everything that I totally forgot about Chaos for a while. We do need to figure out something for you to do with him." It felt weird hugging Vincent without feeling his long hair with my arms. I looked up at him. He wasn't wearing his contacts today so his crimson eyes shone brightly through his shorter jagged bangs.

Vincent tilted his head to the side and thought for a while. I stared at the frown of concentration on his face. "I…I'm a bit confused now. He had his chance to kill, but he didn't… and I for a while, I couldn't even try to control him. He didn't even put up a fight in letting me take over…"

I grinned and poked at his chest flirtatiously. "Maybe Chaos wants some of this too." I said moving my hands down my body.

Vincent rolled his eyes before snatching me up into his arms. "You belong to me." He said as if it were some kind of threat.

I giggled as he kissed my cheek and lifted me so I was sitting on the washer. I sat there and watched him unload the dryer and fold all the clothes.

* * *

Another week flew by leading to another weekend. As I continued to cut down the time I spent with Hideki, I began to notice he was becoming less and less of a gentleman. His calls were no longer the polite 'Hi how are you? Haven't spoken to you in a while, just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.'

The last message I received from him sounded more like 'Amaya, I know interning doesn't take up _this_ much of your time. Call me back or I'll start spreading rumors to your mother that you're still talking to that demon."

Vincent was hovering over my shoulder as I listened to this message. We were sitting on my bed together. He frowned deeply and reached into his bag and pulled out his gun. I gasped loudly.

"Vincent! How did that get here?!" I practically screamed.

Vincent smirked. "The same way I did."

"Oh…my…God! You didn't!" I jumped off my bed and looked down at him with my hands on my hips. Vincent twirled his gun around his fingers with that same smirk on his face.

"Can't say I didn't gain anything out of being a Turk…" he muttered.

I slapped my forehead and had to walk out of the room. I wasn't mad at him, I just couldn't believe him! I came back into the room with a bowl of ice cream with cookies crushed all over it. Vincent gave me a look that I took to mean 'You know you're sharing that'

I smiled at him and sat beside him on the bed and stuck the spoon full of ice cream and cookies at his face. He looked at me like he didn't know what I was doing so I pressed it against his lips. He sucked the treat off of it shooting me a seductive smile afterwards.

"So, you aren't planning on shooting Hideki are you?" I asked as I fed myself a few bites.

Vincent looked down at his gun that was now resting on my pillow. "I might try to reason with him first, but if I continue to feel as if I cannot trust him then…"

I gave him a sad face.

"What? Don't tell me you care about that man? If that's the case I may as well go home." He looked away.

I cuddled his arm with my free arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek before feeding him another bite of ice cream. "You know I love you."

Vincent responded with a smile and we continued to eat our treat and act as lovey dovey as Vincent could be. However later that night I got another call from Hideki.

Vincent ripped the phone out of my hand and answered. "Hello?"

I sat in Vincent's lap and pressed my ear close to the phone.

"Who is this?" Hideki asked.

"Who do you think? Meet with me out in front of the condos in no more than an hour." Vincent hung up the phone and sat it down on the bed.

"I want to go with you." I said wrapping my arms around his neck. He kissed my forehead and nodded.

"If you wish…"

Vincent and I went out to meet Hideki a half hour later and found him already standing by the office building. Vincent wasted no time in whipping out his gun and aiming it at Hideki's head. He forced the man back into the shadows behind the building. I guess this is what he meant by reasoning…

"Speak." Vincent said simply.

Hideki raised his hands lazily and showed Vincent a mocking smirk. "What do you want me to tell you, Mr. Valentine?" His politeness was obviously half hearted.

"Your affiliation with Ms. Arai." Vincent's glare never softened neither did his grip on his gun. I clung to his free arm and looked down at the ground afraid to face Hideki.

"What of it?" Hideki smiled at me. "She just wants her beautiful daughter protected. Can't really argue with that." His eyes flickered back to Vincent's.

Vincent took a step toward Hideki holding the gun out. Hideki's eyes drifted to the three barrels in front of them.

"Let me just make one thing clear. If you so much as breathe a word of my existence here in this city, I will put an end to your existence on this planet. Am I clear?"

Hideki showed his fear through a hard swallow, but he didn't speak a word.

Vincent's finger tightened around the trigger. "I said _am I clear._" He growled. Hideki surprised us both by his quickness as he kicked the gun from Vincent's hand and slammed him against the brick wall behind us. I slipped my arm out of Vincent's as quick as I could so that I wasn't thrown against the wall as well. In the dark, the glow of Chaos's power was easily seen as he threw Hideki off of him. Hideki flew a few feet back before landing painfully on the concrete of the sidewalk. Vincent picked up his gun and raised it one more time. I squeezed my eyes shut and plugged my ears anticipating a gunshot but one never came.

Vincent wrapped his other hand around Hideki's neck and squeezed. I couldn't see Hideki's face but I watched as he kicked his legs wildly trying to break out of Vincent's grip. After a while Hideki's legs stopped moving and Vincent stood. I ran to Vincent's side and took a glance down at the lifeless man on the ground.

He slipped his fingers around mine and we walked back to the condo in silence. I couldn't think of anything to say and Vincent of course didn't look like he wanted to talk.

When we came back to the condo my Aunt Meg was just walking in as well. She smiled at us.

"Aww, are you to love birds coming home from your romantic moonlit walk?"

I smiled and couldn't help but let a laugh out. Vincent let one chuckle slip. "Of course." He said. Once inside I gave him a look and he returned it. Moonlit walk? I wouldn't exactly call it that.

It was quiet in my bedroom for a while until I spoke. "You are really going to have to keep up this new look now. When word gets back to my mom that Hideki's dead, that's a dead giveaway that you are here. So when she does try to get the police involved and describes you, it'll be harder for them to identify you."

Vincent nodded.

I ruffled his hair. "We might even need to add some highlights!"

Vincent rolled his eyes and laid back on the bed staring up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Maybe I shouldn't have allowed you to come. I honestly thought the meeting would only involve some intense threats." He looked over at me.

I looked away. I wasn't going to praise him on killing another person, but I didn't want to make him feel any worse than he did. Knowing Vincent if he felt at all like his behavior was scaring me he'd leave and never come back. I didn't say anything more to him, but got dressed in my pajamas and laid down with him on the bed.


	9. Blue and Red Lights

**Before and After 102**

**Blue and Red Lights **(Chapter in Vincent's POV)

Life wasn't all that bad as a _normal_ guy. It has now been two months since Hideki's death and during those months Amaya had spent much of her time _normalizing _me. I had an entirely new identity. I looked down at the ID card in my hand, according to it I was a twenty-five year old man named Daemon Keller. That couldn't be any more ironic, but the irony of it made me question who was behind the making of these IDs. You never can be too suspicious.

I sat on the bed waiting for Amaya to return from the bathroom so she could drag me out on the town again. Being accepted amongst the crowd was a nice experience, but I would still rather stay in. However, I dare not say this much to Amaya. Though I disliked the club scene, it made her happy to have me there with her and if she was happy that was enough for me.

The door opened and I looked up to see Amaya twirling around for me in her short, _white_, mini skirt. My eyes instantly went through the skirt, as most men's eyes would, and straight to the small but still visible undergarment underneath. "You can't wear that." I said.

She pouted at me and did another twirl. "Why?"

I sighed impatiently without an answer.

"Vincent, you can't seriously be this jealous." She said wrapping her arms around my neck as she climbed into my lap. "You could totally pulverize any guy that looks at me."

"That's not the point. You shouldn't even want to put yourself out there like this and allowing other men to look…" She pressed her lips against mine.

"Stop lecturing me, let's go!"

Just as I expected, Amaya was drawing the attention of almost every man in the club. I tried to be the bigger person and just ignore it, but one guy kept crossing the line. He was my height, with short blond hair and wandering blue eyes. I watched as he eyed some of the other ladies around us, but his eyes always fell back on Amaya.

"Hey! Mind if I borrow her a second?" The guy asked rather boldly. Amaya quickly cut in between us and took my hand.

"This is my boyfriend!" she yelled above the loud music.

"What babe!?" The guy said touching her arm and leaning towards her. I turned away trying not to look at the guy. One more second of this and I could just… I glanced back to see him dragging Amaya onto the dance floor.

A growl involuntarily escaped my lips, but I stayed by the wall glaring into the crowd. However I noticed the guy seemed to be dragging Amaya further and further away until I noticed they were near the back exit. I shoved my way through the sea of people and followed them outside.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked snatching Amaya's wrist up in my arm and pulling her back to me. The guy kept a hold of her other arm.

"Vincent…" Amaya whimpered trying to pull her arm out of the guy's grip. The guy let go of her wrist but approached me with his chin in the air.

"Who do you think you are, bro? When I see something I like, I have it. End of story." He said rolling up his sleeves as if he wanted to fight. I closed my eyes and used Chaos' power to push the man away with a strong wind. The man fell back on the concrete of the sidewalk. He raised his elbow looking down as blood trickled from it. "What the?"

Suddenly people started gathering around. "Fight!" someone yelled and more people gathered.

"Vincent let's get out of here…" Amaya said but as soon as we turned away I felt a blow strike the middle of my back. Chaos stirred inside obviously feeling threatened. I spun around quickly and struck the guy in the face with the hardest punch I could without using Chaos. It was enough to send him stumbling backwards but not enough to end the fight. As soon as he regained composure he raised his fist again.

"Come on!" He yelled as I tried to back away again.

"You're not worth another blow." I said taking a few steps back but still facing him. The crowd continued to encourage us to fight. I heard Amaya gasp and I turned to her to see what was wrong and I saw her looking down the street at the blue and red lights that were progressing closer to us.

Regardless of the authorities, the blond behind me still wanted to fight and all I could do to prevent him from striking me was tackling him to the ground. I could see the crowd dispersing out of the corner of my eyes and hear Amaya screaming for me to stop, but the guy wasn't letting me stop.

Eventually the police men arrived and two of them hoisted me up and off the blond who was still struggling as another officer held him down on the ground. I stood still and allowed the officer pull me back towards his car where he began questioning me. With only a fake ID to offer the officer, I was inevitably going to be spending the night in jail.

I sat down on the hard cushion of the jail cell bed as the barred door slammed shut. I didn't even look at the guard as he spoke to me. "Been here before?"

"No sir." I said staring at the cement floor. After admitting this was my first time in jail, well at least the first time in more than forty years, the officer gave me a rundown on how things were going to work around here. He let me know I would be allowed one phone call first thing in the morning.

I was lucky enough not to have a cellmate so I sat alone on the bed staring at the wall ahead of me. I should have known as soon as I got used to having a normal life things would take a turn for the worst. I sighed loudly and laid back on the bed staring at the ceiling. I had no choice but to give the officers my real name once brought in, surely I would eventually be in for some kind of investigation. I was so caught up in my assumptions of what as to come, that morning came a bit quicker than I thought it would.

* * *

Out of all my assumptions made during the night the last one I had expected occurred. "Your bond has been set at fifty thousand dollars. You've been charged with two counts of assault, and association with an illegal underground organization. Luckily for you, six months ago the president turned himself in and has assumed responsibility for all the deeds done under the company's name."

I did all I could not to let my jaw hit the ground. Why would he…? I dared not say anything, but I honestly did not believe what I was hearing. The news of President Shinra's confession was so shocking that for a moment I didn't even think about what the officer had said. "Two counts of assault? May I ask on who, where and when these charges were made?"

As rudely as possible the plump officer dished out all the evidence he had that I had, in fact, inflicted a series of injuries on the young man from last night, and caused dire injury to Trace Matsuo. Of course I was given a court date three months from now, but there was no argument that I had indeed done these things…

After that great burden was dropped on my shoulders two officers lead me to a room where I could use a phone. Amaya was supposed to be at work today, but I knew her. She would most definitely be at the condo crying. The phone only had to ring once before she answered in a panicked voice.

"Vincent!?"

"Yes. Amaya listen to me I only have so much time to talk ok? Go grab a pencil and paper so I can give you the information you need to access my bank accounts."

"Ok." I heard a clank as if she had dropped the phone and ran off. A few seconds later I heard her voice again. "I'm ready."

I told her all she needed to know, in order to get the money I needed for the bond. "Fifty thousand dollars!? Vincent? What's going on?"

"I'll explain everything to you later." I heard her began to cry softly. "Stop that…" I said in the gentlest voice I could. "Everything's going to be alright, don't worry."

"This is all my fault, I bet this has something to do with my mom…" she sniffed and cried harder.

"She would have nothing on me, if it wasn't for the fact that I indeed committed these crimes… So the fault is all mine." I knew the officers around me were listening but I didn't care. There was no use lying about it…

"I love you." She said through her sobs.

I sighed. "I love you too."

* * *

Amaya tackled me in such a way that it almost resulted in us both lying on the ground. I stroked her hair as she cried softly into my chest. Just as I knew her, she knew me very well too. Thus, she knew what would happen now…

We went back to the condo where I immediately took a shower before returning to her bedroom. It was night now, two days after the fight outside of the club. Amaya sat on the bed staring into space as if she were in some sort of daze. I closed the door behind me and sat next to her, burying my face in her neck.

"What now, Vincent?" she asked leaning away from me so I would lift my head and look at her.

"I'll stay here with you for the remaining three months, but…" I looked away.

"Wherever you go, I'm going too." She said clinging to my arm. I looked down at her round face she puckered her dainty lips at me, but I didn't move to kiss her.

"You know you can't do that…" I said watching her lips morph into a frown. "I love you too much to put your life in danger."

"So…you're really going to run?" she asked me.

I nodded. If I run, it would benefit the community rather than hurt it. Though if it weren't for Chaos, I would just accept the punishment. Amaya sighed and wrapped her arms around my neck. Then she said something extremely shocking.

"Let's get married first."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Get married! Let's fly to Vegas and get married. You've got three more months of freedom before you become America's most wanted! Let's get out and make the most of it." She said jumping into my lap.

After the initial shock faded I only nodded at her. Whatever makes her happy…

She kissed me and giggled loudly. "Can't wait to send our wedding photos to my mom!" I couldn't even help the chuckle that slipped from my lips. That thought alone made facing Las Vegas seem well worth it. Just as I was getting in the intimate mood, Amaya flew off my lap and reached for her cell phone that was sitting on top of the dresser. I laid on the bed listening as she talked with Rena and Lunaz about our wedding plans.


	10. Pictures Say a Thousand Words

**Before and After 102**

**Pictures Say A Thousand Words**

The wind blew in my face as I stuck my head out of the roof of our limo. Rena popped up next to me and threw her hands in the air. "Woo hoo!! We're married!!" she screamed at the random people on the side of the street. Her and I both wore almost identical strapless wedding dresses. She wore black gloves on her hands while I wore white ones.

I felt a tugging at the bottom of my dress and looked down to see my husband frowning at me. Vincent looked as amazing as ever in his white tuxedo and crimson vest. His hair was sure growing back fast, the jagged ends were now just at his shoulders. His hair was slicked back with not a single strand covering his face. I leaned over and gave him the one thousandth kiss of the day. "Where's our camera? I want to take plenty of pictures." I snickered evilly. Vincent reached into his pocket and took out the digital camera. He held it out while I leaned against him and sent a mischievous smile to the camera. Vincent snapped our picture.

The limo came to a stop in front of a strip club. I started to follow Rena and Reno out, but Vincent's slender fingers instantly came around my wrist and yanked me back. The seductive look in his eye was enough to silence my objections. I smiled as he kissed me before ordering the driver to take us back to the hotel.

I giggled as Vincent carried me bridal style down the hallway to our room. I reached into my purse and got the card to slip through the door. Vincent carried me through the door, kicking it shut and threw me down on the bed. I couldn't stop giggling. Vincent grinned at me as he pushed back the layers and layers of my wedding dress until he found my garter. I lifted my leg and rested it on his shoulder as he slowly slipped the lacy ring off of my leg and threw it aside. I sat up and took off his white jacket and vest. I unbuttoned his undershirt until I was to his bare chest. I laughed some more as I reached up and messed up his hair so that his bangs were now in his face again. Vincent pressed his lips against mine and slowly kissed me with as much passion as he could. We fell back on the bed together as he continued to kiss my lips and down my neck. He paused for a moment squeezing his eyes shut.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up slightly as he held his head. He brought his hand down and shook his head.

"Nothing." He breathed softly. He looked down at my dress, confused at how he was going to get me out of it. I turned around for him so he could unlace the back of it. "Was it really worth all this trouble?" he asked unlacing the complicated dress. I laughed softly.

"Of course it was." Vincent finally slipped the dress off of me leaving me in only a white thong that read 'Bride to be' in silver jewels. I crossed my arms over my chest and grinned at him. "Go run some water in the bathtub."

Vincent raised an eyebrow at me. The bathroom in this suite was amazing and the bathtub was basically a hot tub. Rena bought bubble bath fluid the day before. Vincent picked up the bottle and took it with him into the bathroom to start our bath.

After a while I walked into the bathroom still in my underwear and my arms over my chest. Vincent was sitting in the tub with bubbles all around him staring right at me. It was amazing at how he still had such an effect on me. Vincent turned his head to the side and I noticed the camera was sitting on the floor by the tub. He picked it up and aimed it at me again. He seemed to be zooming in on my underwear. He smiled at he took the picture and looked at it. I climbed into the bathtub with him and he instantly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and prepared for another photo.

"Since when have you been such a photographer?" I smiled at him he kissed me and took a picture of us in the process.

"Anything for my mother-in-law." He muttered softly. I grinned at him.

"I love you." I kissed his cheek. "Hubby."

Vincent rolled his eyes and looked away from me.

"Come on, you can call me your wifey." I giggled. Vincent only shook his head, but he looked back at me with a smile.

"How about you continue to call me by my name and I'll continue to call you by yours." He kissed me softly before gently splashing bubbles in my face.

I sent a wave his was covering him with them. He wiped his eyes before pulling me close to him with his inhumanely strong arms. He kissed me while taking off my underwear under the water. He threw the wet garment a little harder than he meant to and they landed high on a shelf.

"Oops…" he whispered with a slight chuckle as he kissed and nipped at my shoulder. I moved my hands around in the water searching for him. Once I found it, I wrapped my fingers around the hard flesh and softly teased the tip. Vincent hissed softly and retaliated sliding his hand up my thigh and very lightly touched me, leaving me with a throbbing sensation for more. He tortured me with a few light touching with two of his fingers. My body shivered. "Vincent…" I moaned.

He sighed before speaking again. "I just want to treasure this moment, Amaya. Because I feel that after…" I put a finger to his lips. I will _not_ let him ruin this night by filling my mind with depressing thoughts of what the future could bring.

"Then let's treasure it." I said before kissing his lips and moving my hips towards his, ready to take him inside me. He grabbed my hips and pushed his towards me entering me. I moaned softly as he made sure the pace was slow. I wanted so badly to just ride him as hard and fast as I could, but that wouldn't exactly be 'treasuring' the moment.

* * *

Vincent and I were in that bathtub for so long, when we finally finished there was not a single bubble left in the water. I laid against his chest for a while catching my breath from our last round.

"Hey…" he said softly. "Let's go to bed."

I nodded and climbed out of the bathtub, grabbing a towel off the shelf and wrapping it around me. I jumped a few times trying to grab my underwear but couldn't reach them. Vincent walked over and plucked them off the shelf without even fully extending his arm. I punched him softly in the shoulder.

We slipped into our pajamas and into our king sized bed. I laid my hand on his chest and sighed happily.

* * *

**Back in the Midwest… ( Manami Arai's POV)**

"What is it, Satoshi?" I asked my son, hearing him call my name from the kitchen. I walked in to see him holding an opened envelope. I squinted and saw the address.

"A package from your sister?" I asked as I reached for it. He held it above my head.

"Misenasai yo!" I demanded holding my hand out.

"Maa…" he hesitated but handed me the package. I reached inside and pulled a handful of pictures out of the envelope.

"Uso…" I couldn't believe what my eyes showed me. My own daughter in a wedding dress standing next to that demon! It could not be! I looked at the next photo and saw it was indeed the truth. I couldn't bear to look at the rest of the pictures.

"It's her life…" Satoshi said. "She's going to be twenty-one soon."

"Do you not care at all for your sister?! That man is just using her! She deserves so much better than that!" I yelled at my ignorant son.

"It's her choice. If she doesn't want better for herself that's her own problem. If you keep interfering she's only going to end up resenting you until that resentment turns to pure hatred. Vincent's not that bad of a guy, I had dinner with them." I turned to Satoshi in shock.

"What?!"

"It was a long time ago…"

"Never mind any of this. I'll put an end to Mr. Valentine for good." I said resting my hand on the telephone.

* * *

The short getaway weekend went by extremely fast, but it was all well worth it. I was now legally Amaya Valentine and loving it entirely. There was only a month until Vincent's trial, therefore a month of time we had together before the world started crumbling on us.

Although my motivation for the internship was fading, neither Vincent, my aunt nor even Kumiko would let me give up. But with each passing day I found myself losing more and more interest in the internship. What would it matter anyway? Why would I ever need to work Vincent was able to support us.

Today was no different, I dragged myself around throughout the day trying to look happy, but not wanting anything more than to come right back home to my new husband. When the time came, I went home to find a seemingly empty condo.

"Vincent?" I called as I walked into the living room. These days he'd normally be sitting in the chair closest to the door waiting for me to come home and even greet me with a hug.

I looked in my bedroom and in the bathroom, but he was nowhere to be found. I decided to try his cell phone although I was unsure if he even had service out here. The try was hopeless as no one answered.

I went back into my bedroom again and noticed a note stuck on the mirror.

_Amaya,_

_Please don't start worrying and please, please don't cry. Your mother had contacted the police and a warrant has been issued for my arrest. An officer came here today looking for me, I'm going with him right now and by the time you read this I'll be in custody and will remain there until Chaos takes over which inevitably will happen soon. If Chaos is attacked there is no telling how much destruction he will cause. Be safe, and take care of your family. I love you and I promise we'll be together again soon. _

I covered my mouth trying to muffle my sobs. How could he ask me not to worry? The first thing I did was pick up the phone and call my mother, but there was no answer there either.

All I could do was sit on my bed and just hope that Vincent would be ok and that everything would turn out right. But ultimately, it wasn't Vincent's life that was in danger…


	11. Love's Cruelty

**Before and After 102**

**Love's Cruelty**

There were still two months until my trial… Two months I would be kept here in this cell. Next month was Amaya's birthday, not that it mattered anymore. I sighed loudly doing all I could not to wish I hadn't gotten involved. I knew this would happen… This was my reason for not even making friends let alone lifelong partners. Why does love always bring me such hardships? I wondered.

"You sure are quiet." said the young man sharing this cell with me. He was no more than seventeen years old.

I didn't respond to his comment. Instead I wondered how long I could remain this _quiet_. Ever since Chaos interacted with Amaya, his patterns have been off.

"You must be like one of those psycho killers or something." He said with a laugh.

I couldn't help but respond to this ignorant comment. "If so you'd have already been dead."

"Psh… You may be tall, but I could break you in half." The boy said. I chose to ignore him and continue to think to myself.

Much to my relief the obnoxious teenager only spent one night in the jail leaving me alone again. But this only lasted a few days until the next cell mate came. I was a bit shocked this time because this man looked as if he were the president of some top notch company. After a short chat with him I found out he was here for participating in prostitution.

"Vincent wasn't it?" he asked me out of the blue.

"Yes."

"What are you in for?"

"I've been charged with…" I groaned as I felt a sharp pain stab me in the chest. I coughed a few times. The man stood from his bed.

"Are you ok?" he asked me looking genuinely worried. Sweat beads formed on my forehead and my body started shaking violently as I tried my hardest to contain Chaos. "Not now… please not now" I mentally said hoping Chaos could somehow understand.

"Hey!! Someone help!!" The man called out pressing his face between the bars of the door. In a split second two police officers were opening the door. I felt Chaos's tension fading, but still lost consciousness.

* * *

I furrowed my brow with a groan before opening my eyes. Sunlight… Was the first thought that occurred to me.

"Vincent!" I looked over and saw my new wife. She smiled at me and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on my lips. I was too weak to kiss her back.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"You've been released from jail." She whispered excitedly. "But… only because they ran some tests on you and believe that you're physical, as well as mental state needs attention. So all the charges might eventually be dropped or at least the punishments will be less severe." I nodded staring up at her beautiful face. All the doubts and regrets I felt for getting involved with her slightly faded as I stared at her. She smiled at me and tossed back her head to remove her now long bangs from her eyes. The rest of her hair was tied back into a small ponytail.

I drifted off again and when I awoke there was a man in the room. He and Amaya stood, Amaya had her arms crossed while the man seemed to be trying to explain himself. As I came to, I began to understand their conversation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked looking the man directly in his eyes.

"I've spoken with the neurologists here, they seemed to have found…" he paused and looked away. It was like he was afraid to tell me the truth as he thought it would upset me. Little did he know I was more than well aware of Chaos's effect on my brain. "…severe…abnormalities within the nervous system… almost as if there are two different brains sending messages throughout your body."

I didn't say anything but only glared at the man.

"…a..also, you're heartbeat… is as if there are two hearts beating… You're condition is beyond medical help that is why they suggested…"

"No." I answered simply. There was no way I'd let another scientist touch me. All they would do is upset Chaos and have him even more out of order than he's already been.

"…and your cells. They show no signs of aging, yet your birth date tells us you will be sixty-four years old by the end of this year." The man turned away again and lifted his arms as if a wave of inspiration had come over him. This gesture reminded me of no one other than Hojo. "Your blood…it could be the fountain of youth!"

I ripped out all of the needles attached to me and jumped off the bed. The man spun around and bravely grabbed a hold of my arm. "It was me that convinced those at the police station to release you. If you fail to cooperate, I will not hesitate to turn you right back in."

I leaned forward getting a mere inch away from the man's face. "Do it." I said before forcefully ripping my arm out of his hand and taking off down the hall.

"Wait! Vincent!" I heard Amaya yell. I paused for a moment allowing her to catch up and then picked her up and ran with her out of the hospital as fast as my legs could carry me. Once outside I used a bit of Chaos's power that almost sent us flying.

As we came nearer to our neighborhood, I put Amaya down and walked beside her at a normal pace. She remained quiet, sending short glances up at me. I sighed softly before slipping my fingers around hers. "Don't worry, Amaya. You know I'll be fine."

I heard her sniff and looked down to see tears streaming down her cheeks. I sighed again. "Stop that."

She suddenly jerked her hand out of mine and ran towards the condos we were approaching. I looked down at the side walk as I continued alone. I wondered what she was upset about… Maybe this was her regretting everything… I wouldn't blame her if it was. This whole situation was a huge mistake. The saying that states only fools fall in love is completely true and I am the biggest fool of them all.

By the time I arrived at Amaya's aunt's place, the news had already started to air my disappearance. Of course they were over exaggerating the situation. According to the red headlines there was a schizophrenic serial killer on the loose. I watched Amaya's aunt's face twist into a look of horror as she saw the picture of my face appear on the screen. I was surprised at how the mug shot turned out. I did honestly look very threatening.

Megumi's eyes travelled from the screen to my face, still expressing the same horrified look. I forced a smile. "It's not what it seems…but you have nothing to worry about. I'm leaving now."

She stood. "Not what it seems? All this time I've been supporting you… No wonder Manami was so upset…" she looked up at me and began to glare.

I swallowed hard as a tough decision presented itself. I could tell her the truth now and let her see what I really am and how I came to be this way. Or I could run like I've always done. "You're sick." She spat harshly.

I bowed my head and clenched my hands into fists. "I…the truth is…" I slowly allowed a little bit of Chaos's energy out, just enough to allow me to take on his appearance. "I have a demon living inside me."

She gasped and threw herself back against the wall away from me. "N…no, I won't hurt you now, but sometimes…I lose control. I don't want to hurt anyone, let alone take someone's life, but this monster forces me to!" Just as my emotions heightened Chaos's did as well and I fought to take on my own form again. Amaya appeared in the doorway of her room and stared at me in shock.

"A mad man did this to me. I fell in love with his wife… and tried to interfere with his sick plans…and for that…" I paused for a moment. "This is what he did to me! I am forever stuck in this body! Forever! I tried to push Amaya out of my life I didn't want her getting involved with someone like me, but she wouldn't leave me alone! The longer she hung around me, the more I started to believe that maybe this could work…, but… I wish I wouldn't have ever let myself fall in love with her! This is what love does to 

me!" I yelled pointing at the TV screen that was still showing my picture. With those final words I brushed past Megumi and past a stunned Amaya and into the room where my possessions were. I quickly collected all of my things and was gone. My emotions have never been this out of control, the urge to cry struck me like a lightning bolt and left my throat tight and mouth dry. I turned this urge to cry into a fit of anger and let Chaos take control, flying into the sky…

**Amaya's POV**

Aunt Meg was instantly at my side as soon as the front door slammed shut. I was crying uncontrollably for at least an hour. "How could he?" I asked. We were now seated on the couch staring at the TV that had finally moved on to some other big news.

"I'm sorry, Amaya. I came down pretty hard on him…" she said as if she were taking the blame for his outburst.

"For all this I could have just listened to my mother. Our relationship was rocky enough after my father died… now it's gotten so much worse. It's like I no longer have a father or a mother…" I wiped away the tears that continue to pour down my cheeks.

"I still understand how you feel, Amaya. Though, I would have never believed a story like Mr. Valentine's if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, its heart wrenching. It's so easy to want to just reach out to him and make him feel loved. Sometimes the line between sympathy and true love can be a bit blurred…"

I sniffed again. "That's how it started. But Vincent…he…he's so handsome, and caring, and sweet." I smiled as flashbacks of our past memories together flew through my head. "…and funny, Vincent can be really funny when he wants to without even trying and it's so cute." I laughed softly. "I know I love him."

Aunt Meg smiled at me.

I spent the rest of the evening praying to get a phone call or some sort of message from Vincent. I just knew he'd eventually calm down and call me. I waited and waited and sat up til four in the morning, but his call never came…


	12. Mother Dearest

**Before and After 102**

**Mother Dearest**

A month later and I had made my way back to the Midwest. The house was still intact as well as the cars. I let myself in and put away my things. I felt bad for getting upset and leaving Amaya as I did, but I had a plan now. A plan that could only work if I did it alone.

I hesitantly picked up the phone and made a surprising phone call.

"Arai residence." Came a polite answer seeping with false kindness.

"This is Vincent."

"Still alive?" The politeness was instantly dropped as she let a menacing laugh fill the phone.

"I am, and always will be…mother." I forced a chuckle of my own.

She made a noise that resembled a gag, but she couldn't say this much wasn't true. Legally, she is my mother-in-law.

"Thanks to you, I've been forced to leave your daughter's side for now as I don't want to bring her anymore trouble and distract her further from her job." I said in hopes of letting this woman know I do want what's best for Amaya.

"Good." She said.

"However, in the meantime, be expecting me." I hung up leaving her to think about what I had just said. With that I went upstairs to pack a small suitcase and left for Amaya's hometown.

I pulled my black car into the driveway of the cozy looking home. By looking at the place you'd never expect the devil himself in a woman's flesh lived here. I smirked at the thought and got out of my car. I straightened my white dress shirt and ran a hand through my hair a few times. I hardly knew what to do with hair this length. It had now grown an inch or so past my shoulders. So I pulled it back in a short ponytail. As I approached the house, I saw there were two cars in the big garage. I secretly hoped Amaya's brother was here as well since I knew he was on our side.

I rang the doorbell and stood by waiting. After a minute or so, the door was cracked open. No one said anything or made any attempts to let me in so I pushed the door open further and walked inside. A single gunshot rang loudly in the small living room and I cursed as I felt a bullet strike me in the spine. It temporarily weakened my legs causing me to drop to the floor, but the wound quickly healed and I regained strength. I spun around and glared at my shooter.

"Tadaima." I smiled at Ms. Arai. She stood there in a modest black shirt and long dark green skirt. She sighed softly looking at the gun knowing the weapon was useless. I rubbed my chest in an attempt to soothe Chaos who threatened to act up after feeling his host being attacked.

"I'm not impressed." She said. Loud footsteps running down the stairs sounded and suddenly Satoshi stood in the room with us.

"Mom, what are you doing!? The neighbors are going to call the cops and you'll be the one rotting in prison." He said crossing his arms and staring at his insane mother.

I continued to smile.

"What do you want, Valentine? Just tell me what it is you want from us. Money? Sex? I can find some other little slut for you…" Ms. Arai started. I could hear the desperation in her voice and it saddened me that someone could hate me that much and not know anything about me.

"I only want your acceptance. I love your daughter with every piece of my previously broken heart. I would never intentionally hurt her. I just want the best for her. Believe me I tried to leave her alone, because as you know I do not deserve her love. But, she… she stole my heart again and as long as she has it, I…can't leave her alone and once we are together again, I'll never leave her side." I said dropping the act and baring my true soul to this woman hoping somehow she'd understand and stop this hell raising.

"Never _intentionally_ hurt her…" She sighed loudly. "Vincent, it seems you have good intentions. I can see that and I appreciate it, but… you are…a monster, a demon! How can I stand by and watch a demon devour my little girl! You've hurt her once, who can say it won't happen again?" She crossed her arms and glared up at me.

"I…" An answer wouldn't develop fast enough so she continued on.

"Not only that, but you're body doesn't age! How can you be so selfish to keep my daughter around knowing that she will grow old and die without you?! That is not fair to her! Have you even thought about how painful that will be for her? Amaya is young. She may feel now that the future doesn't matter, but when the time comes it will matter! And it will only bring pain for her!"

"My immortality is a curse… a spreadable curse…that I've already given to your daughter." I looked down. I understood where she was coming from as a mother.

"What?" Her and Satoshi both asked at the same time taking a step towards me.

"Well, she…did it to herself. My blood is contaminated with the immortality curse. A swallow of my blood can stop any normal person from aging. You're daughter is fully capable of dying, but not from the affects of aging."

I hesitantly glanced up at the two of them to see their reaction and was surprised. Satoshi laughed.

"Hey, so can I get a swallow?" he laughed harder.

Ms. Arai looked around the room as well as if she had something she wanted to ask but couldn't.

"I opposed to her taking any of my blood, but she…took it anyway." I added.

"But she is not a demon and you say she can still die… there is still a chance you'll kill my daughter!" Ms. Arai said.

I sighed. "You seem to have so many connections, find someone to help me."

"What do you mean, help _you_?" she asked crossing her arms again.

"I'm willing to be taken in, to have my body examined only with the efforts to eliminate my demon." I said taking a step towards my mother-in-law. I stared down at her seriously. "I'm always going to be in your daughter's life and if the only thing you don't like about me is my demon problem then let's fix it."

∞Amaya's POV∞

"You've both been promoted." Kumiko and I stared at each other in disbelief. I would have been more excited if my husband was back at the condo waiting so I could break the good news to him. Kumiko and I left the supervisor's office with smiles on our faces, but mine faded quickly.

"Oh come on! You just got promoted! Forget about that loser! You need to find a happier guy with a better personality. Someone that's not going to get you down all the time." She said pulling my arm as she drug me along.

Of course just like the party girl she was, as soon as we got home I heard her on the phone making plans with all of her other friends to come out tonight to celebrate our promotion. I threw myself down on my twin sized bed and buried my face into my pillow. Suddenly I heard _the_ ringtone. No way… I thought. I hurried to my cell phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Amaya." Tears formed in my eyes and I did all I could not to cry, but at the same time I wanted to be angry at him.

"It's been a month, Vincent."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I've got some good news."

"You're in town?" I guessed with a light laugh. A tear escaped, but I quickly wiped it away.

"No, I'm back home… in our home." Our home… I smiled knowing that meant that he wasn't really trying to break up with me.

"Well, tell me the good news."

"I visited your mother yesterday." He said.

"What?! Visited!? Like you drove all the way out there to my hometown?! Oh my God, so what happened?!"

He chuckled softly. "I won her over, Amaya. Everything's ok now. Also, with her help I found a man that may be able to take care of Chaos."

"Really?! Vincent that's great! I want to be there with you so bad." I wondered what the process of getting rid of Chaos would be like and I wanted to be right there holding his hand all the way.

"Hm.. well, I'll be fine. How have you been?" The nerve he has to ask that.

"How do you think?! I should be screaming at you right now for leaving like you did." I pouted as if he could see me.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I love you, Amaya. As much as I didn't want to, I fell in love with you and will always be in love with you until you break my heart."

"…which would never happen, but Vincent you break my heart every time you say things like 'regretting falling in love with me' and stuff like that."

"Sorry." He said again for the third time. I knew that was all the more apology I was going to get out of him so I left it at that.

"Oh by the way I got promoted!" I threw my arms up in the air. Kumiko appeared in my doorway with two skirts in her hand ready to ask which one looked better.

"That's great." His voice was emotionless, but knowing Vincent I knew he was happy for me. I beamed.

(The black one) I mouthed to Kumiko.

"Is that Vincent? Tell him that was a major jerk move that he pulled and he's lucky you're so forgiving." She said before whirling around and going back into the bathroom.

I laughed but didn't repeat her words to Vincent. "Don't forget about Yume. She's at Rena's parent's place. Go get her so we can webcam and I can see my baby girl."

"I will." He replied.

"Well, I better go. We've gotta celebrate tonight!" I said knowing what would surely come next.

"You'd better be good." I knew that was coming.

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too, Amaya. Bye"

I hung up and grinned. Finally things were turning around for me!


	13. Death is No Joke

**Before and After 102**

**Death is No Joke**

Four months went by and I was enjoying my job and all but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I knew I'd look like such a disappointment to just up and quit my job after all the hard work I put into getting to here. But, I couldn't stop thinking about Vincent and what he was going through. He graced me with a phone call two weeks ago, but I hadn't heard from him since. He sounded fine and let me know so far all they've done is run test after test. I still wanted to be there.

I lay in my bed staring down at my cell phone. Since he wasn't able to get to a phone very often, I wasn't about to miss any of his phone calls so I spent every night like this. Kumiko, of course thought I was completely insane, but I didn't care. Just as my eyes began to start shutting on me, my phone rang and I sprang up in an instant and answered it.

"Hello?!"

"Whoa, that excited to hear from him, huh?"

"Reno?" Disappointment settled in my heart, but he couldn't be calling me for nothing…

"Yeah, I'm here with Rena. She's visiting Vincent. I guess they aren't letting anyone visit him after tonight. She knew you couldn't be here so she came instead." He didn't sound too thrilled. What!? No more visits!?

"What's going on?" I stood up from my bed as if I was getting up to go somewhere.

Reno sighed. "I don't know… I'm not supposed to 'worry you' according to Vincent."

"I don't care what anyone says. Tell me what's going on!" I shut my door so that my yelling wouldn't disturb the rest of the house.

"They're going to try to operate on him tonight." He said quietly.

"Are you close to him? Could I talk to him?" I asked. I then heard him calling Rena's name. Then I heard her answering him telling him that he could go in. My heart rate increased knowing, this probably meant I could speak with him. The next thing I heard was his voice.

"Hey." He said a little too casually.

"Hey? Vincent!? What's going on?!"

He chuckled slightly, but I could tell this was all an act just so that I'd think things were alright. "Nothing, Amaya. Do you job and don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"What are they about to do to you? Tell me, honestly." I said seriously.

He sighed. "They're going to try to operate on me. A demonologist examined me earlier while I was in Chaos's form. Chaos does have a weakness to a certain metal element. They are going to place a piece of this metal in my body that'll cause Chaos to deteriorate inside me. However…"

Vincent didn't even need to finish because I knew what would happen. Chaos would release an immense amount of toxins and leave Vincent on the brink of death and if Chaos is dying too and unable to save him… "Vincent…can't you…think about this for a while? I mean, this is serious! You could die!"

He remained silent.

"Wait, please Vincent. Wait a few months and I'll come down to be with you for this. Please just do this much for me."

He sighed softly. "Ok, Amaya. I'll wait."

"Thank you." I smiled though he couldn't see it. "I love you, Vincent and I miss you so much right now."

"I know." He replied. "I love you too. I'm going to hang up now I don't think this phone is going to last much longer." That much must have been true; Reno never kept his phone charged.

"Ok, bye." Just as I said that I heard the line go dead. I sat down on the bed and thought about everything for a moment, and then made my decision. I didn't want to work for the company anymore. This…wasn't my dream anymore. In reality being out here away from Vincent was a nightmare and I couldn't wait to get out of it. I had to tell my Aunt Meg…

* * *

I hated disappointing people, but it's not my job to make sure everyone else is happy. I've got to do what makes me happy and that's being at home with my friends and family and husband. Naturally, Aunt Meg wasn't happy about my decision and Kumiko was disappointed in me as well, but that wasn't my concern anymore. They were lucky I lasted six months at the job. I was ready to go after the first six weeks. Today marked the two months that Vincent was supposed to wait before he did anything drastic. I sat on the plane with a smile on my face as I waited for the moment where I could run into his arms.

It seemed to take forever for arrive and to get my bags at the airport but when I did I began frantically searching for Vincent. I searched everywhere for pale skin and black hair, but couldn't see it. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turn around to see… Reno… again. He looked exhausted. I took an early flight here and it was still nine o'clock in the morning.

"Not who you were looking for?" He asked with a laugh. "You're gonna be pissed off at your husband. About two weeks ago, he went ahead with the operation. The scientist capable of doing it was leaving and wouldn't be back for a long time so he had to decide whether to go ahead and do it now or wait much much later, like possibly a year."

"What!? Shit…" We both began to hurry towards the exit.

Reno was even driving Vincent's nice car. He grinned at me. "Nice ride, he's got here." He'd been testing out the system too as it blasted in my ears as soon as he started the car. He turned it down. "He's doing alright, Amaya. He's at home. Rena and I have been staying there with him. It's just like he's got the flu or something. Or at least that's what we can pretend…"

"I can't pretend it's just the flu." I shook my head. I couldn't believe I wasn't there holding Vincent's hand before he'd gone off into surgery. I found myself feeling a bit jealous that Rena had been by his side all this time. Reno didn't look like he'd been receiving much attention so she must have completely devoted herself to him these past weeks.

The long drive home felt like ten years, even though Reno flew at speeds over a hundred miles an hour at times. I barged through the door of my true home. Yume ran freely through the house. At first she charged to attack me, but then quickly noticed it was me. I scooped her up into my arms and kissed her a thousand times. "Where's papa?"

"Upstairs in the master bedroom." Reno said making his way into the kitchen. I noticed the living room was a complete wreck so someone must have been making themselves at home.

I hurried up the stairs as fast as I could with my suitcases and walked quietly into our bedroom. The TV was on, the volume very low. I heard someone flush the toilet in our master bathroom and as I stepped into the room from the hall, Rena walked in from the bathroom. I looked at her for a while before looking down at my sleeping husband in our bed. He didn't look sick or anything, just tired.

"How is he?" I asked trying hard to smile at her and act appreciative of what she'd been doing and not jealous.

She didn't seem exactly excited to see me either which made me think she'd been enjoying her time around him. She faked a smile as well. "He's been doing good. I've even tried to make your special green tea for him."

Oh? No one makes the special green tea but me! I smiled again. "Really? That's great. He must have been in good hands then…" I noticed the chair that was pulled up beside the bed where she must have been sitting.

"Totally." She laughed. "He just fell asleep like literally minutes ago, so you can go ahead and wake him."

I don't remember needing permission to wake up my own damn husband! This time I didn't even try to smile but went to our huge bed and sat down next to Vincent. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He didn't even stir. "Vincent." I said placing my hand on his forehead. He already had a fever.

I could feel Rena staring at us and wished she'd leave the room, but I couldn't think of a way to ask her politely. "Yo! Vinvin!" she yelled through cupped hands. I did all I could not to turn and glare at her, but Vincent did stir and wake up. He even looked ahead at her before looking up at me.

"Amaya…" he said staring up at me.

"Vincent…" I ran my hand through his hair. It had grown so fast. About five more inches and it'd be back to the length it started as.

Yume ran into the room and jumped up at the bed, but her short legs couldn't get her high enough. I reached down and picked her up. She seemed aware of Vincent's fragile state and didn't try to climb on him, but walked over to him wearily and giving him a few sniffs. Rena finally left the room.

"What did they do to my hubby?" I grinned down at him. He smiled slightly.

"Nothing serious." He pointed over at the table at a pyramid of pills. "To help with the toxins, I'll take those, and I'll be fine."

"You sure? Vincent if you die…"

His hand closed around my wrist and he gave it a tight squeeze. "I won't. I have too much to live for now." He smiled down at Yume.I petted her and smiled at her as well, then I frowned. "I wasn't happy about…"

"I know." Vincent said quickly and then laughed softly. "But she was the closest thing to you that I had at the time…"

I glared at him. He reached up and ruffled my hair. "No one can take your place."

"Damn straight." I said leaning forward and giving him a kiss. "Well, you better get your rest. I'm gonna go get something to eat and stuff then I'll be back to join you."

He nodded and got himself comfortable again to fall asleep.

I went downstairs and saw Rena and Reno again. My jealousy faded and I walked right up to her and gave her a hug. "Thanks so much for taking care of Vincent."

She reluctantly hugged me back. "You're lucky to have such an amazing person in your life." She said. Reno frowned. She turned to him and punched him in the stomach playfully. "You don't try hard enough!" she spat. He rolled his glassy eyes. I glanced over at Vincent's liquor cabinet to see it pretty much empty.

"Well, I hate to kick you guys out, but…"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't sex him too hard he still has a hole in his chest." Rena said causing Reno to laugh loudly.

I shook my head. "We aren't going to have sex." I laughed.

"Good. Well, c'mon Reno we've got a long drive ahead of us and it looks like I'm the one driving." With that said, those two were off. I sighed with relief and fixed myself something to eat for a late lunch. After eating I went back to the bedroom and put away all my stuff. Being the heavy sleeper that he was, 

Vincent didn't stir during any of this. I took a shower and changed into my pajamas and laid down on top of the sheets watching TV for a while. It was still only six in the evening by then. After a while I felt a hand wrap around mine.

"Hungry, baby?" I asked him when he looked over at me. He nodded then he gave me a naughty look.

"I guess I'll have to settle for food, though…"

I gasped. "Vincent you're such a perv! Thinking about sex even when you're ill." I gave him a seductive pat on his chest, above where I knew he'd been cut open. He smirked. I left his side again to fix him something to eat. I said a silent prayer that thing wouldn't get too bad for him and after all of this he better not die! It was hard not to think of death as a joke to Vincent because it always has been. Hopefully it always will be…


	14. Taken Down

**Taken Down**

Two weeks passed by quickly and against the doctor's orders, Vincent was on his feet again. He was showing a bit of symptoms from the toxins, but the medication that was given to him did seem to be helping him.

It was summertime now and I sat out back watching the four construction men building our swimming pool. I couldn't wait until it was finally finished so I could invite everyone out here for a back yard barbeque by the pool. Vincent's pale skin burned so quickly he could hardly stand outside for more than an hour so he was inside lying down. He slept until two this afternoon and seemed to be a bit down today not to mention moody.

I sighed in disappointment when the workers left at five. So far the pool was just a huge hole in the ground. I went back inside and caught Vincent leaning against the counter waiting for the water to heat up in the microwave so he could make tea. I walked by him and rubbed a hand down his bare back. I hadn't seen him in a shirt for the past three days. Not that I'm complaining...

"You're warm, baby. You feel ok?" I asked in a soft voice. He nodded, but I could tell otherwise. I'd been praying every night that he stayed healthy until Chaos was completely deteriorated. "Babe, look at me." I said sternly. He obeyed and let his eyes rest on mine. I closed the distance between us and attempted to kiss him, but he turned away.

"I wouldn't." he muttered.

"Have you been getting sick?" I asked wrapping my arms around his waist. He sighed but didn't answer me directly. The microwave beeped and he moved away from me to prepare his tea. Afterwards he laid back down in his chair that he had fully reclined. He had the extra comforter out and all his medicine bottles on the coffee table.

I followed him and watched him as he said down and pulled the lever so his chair wasn't reclined. He sipped his tea quietly.

"Vincent..."

"Yes, I'm sick Amaya." He said a bit rudely.

I held my hands up in defense. "Ok. Sorry to be so concerned. You're only my freakin husband." I spat out walking back to the kitchen to grab a bag of chips. I walked back upstairs and got on the phone with one of the scientist from the lab where Vincent's operation took place.

"Hi, this is Amaya Valentine, Vincent's wife, and I just wanted to ask a few questions..." I started after shutting the door so Vincent wouldn't hear me. I wondered if after Chaos was gone would his senses still be as inhumanely strong. That might not be a bad thing if they weren't.

"Ok, sure." The man said politely.

"He's been kind of... moody, I guess." I laughed nervously. "I just wondered if that was another symptom."

"Irritability? Yes, his body is going through a number of changes as the demon inside him deteriorates. He may also begin to have hot flashes or chills as his body begins to adjust to feeling temperature again. We fear that all of these changes may overwhelm the body's major systems and cause problems. That's why it's very important that Mr. Valentine takes his medications as directed." He said.

"Ok, I'll be sure to check up on that. Well, that's all I wanted to know. I thought maybe it was just me or something..." I laughed again. The man chuckled as well.

"Oh no, dear. I assure you it's just the changes his body is going through." He said again.

"Ok. Well, thank you very much."

"Any time."

"Goodbye." I said hanging up the phone and walking back downstairs.

"Down!" Vincent growled sternly at poor Yume. She whined softly and jumped down off her father's chair.

"Aw, don't be mean to Yume." I pouted at him. He didn't acknowledge me. I scooped her up in my arms and sat on the couch with her, petting her head and scratching behind her ears. "Daddy's sick and _irritable_." I said showing him a mock glare as I spoke to the ball of tan fur in my arms. She was starting to smell a little bit dirty from her trips outside so I decided to give her a bath, thus giving Vincent some more time to himself.

After bathing Yume, I took a long bath myself and got dressed in one of my sexier pair of pajamas. It consisted of some black booty shorts with lace at the bottom and a lacy black top that bared some of my midriff. I laid on top of the perfectly made bed for the longest time waiting for Vincent to come up here. Finally he came dragging into the room. He sent me an odd glance before throwing himself down on the bed and reaching for the lamp. I quickly reached over and grabbed his hand. His skin was hot to the touch. He grunted in objection, but to my surprise was too weak to fight me off. "You aren't gonna tell me I'm sexy?" I joked with a giggle. He looked me in the eye and sent a once over down my body.

"I've seen this one before." He said emotionlessly.

"Uh! Whatever." I roughly flipped the lamp's switch for him and got under the covers turning the lamp on my side off as well. "Goodnight!" I said rudely.

It was completely silent in the room for the longest time before I heard Vincent coughing. It was a nastier cough than before that sounded like he could blow chunks any second. I was ready to myself.

"Geez, baby, don't you have any cough drops or something?" I said turning towards him though I couldn't see anything in this pitch black room. I felt him shifting around in the bed and then heard him stumbling around the room. Finally I saw the light in the bathroom as he flipped the switch and closed the door behind him. I covered my head with a pillow not wanting to hear any gross noises. I fell asleep that way, but a few hours later I was woke up again by the sounds of my husband seemingly choking to death.

* * *

The next two weeks Vincent continued to get sicker. The scientist on the phone was right about the hot flashes and the chills. I could feel Vincent's body trembling as I laid next to him. I reached over to hug him and found him to be soaking wet. I hurried and turned on the light. "Babe?"

Vincent squinted in the light. I noticed his eyes seemed to be a lot more sensitive to the light as tears began to roll down the sides of his face onto the pillow. "T..turn out the light." He said in a shaky voice. I turned out the light again.

"Vincent, you're scaring me."

I felt him sit up and suddenly there were warm, moist hands groping my body until I was pulled down against a sweaty, wet chest. I made a disgusted face thankful that Vincent couldn't see me. His heart was racing and he seemed to be short of breath. I sat up suddenly again. "I'm going to call the doctor." Vincent didn't like the word scientist so I always called the man a doctor when I was talking to him. Vincent's hand weakly wrapped around my arm, but I easily slipped my arm out of his weak grip and left the room. I walked down the hall to the study room where the computer and one of the phones were. I took a moment to calm myself down. I wanted to cry so bad, but just couldn't. I called the scientist but after four rings and no answer, I gave up and went back to the bedroom. I flipped the light on when I walked in the door. Vincent winced like that hurt him.

"Turn the light off." He said again.

"Baby, I need to see you." I said walking into the bathroom and coming out with a towel. "Sit up, honey." I said wrapping the towel around him to dry him off. I sat down beside him and rubbed his back through the towel and kissed his cheek. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this... All to please my stupid mother! You shouldn't have tried to please that bitch, this is all her fault!"

"Shhh... Amaya..." He winced. He must have had a hell of a migraine.

"Sorry." I said softly. I heard his stomach growl. "You want something to eat, baby?"

"I can't eat anything." He said quickly.

"Some tea?" I murmured softly.

He nodded. I kissed his cheek again and left his side. I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost four in the morning. When I came back with Vincent's hot tea, he was now sitting in front of the fan. His long hair blowing behind him. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He said taking the mug from me. "I love you." He said surprising me a bit. Then he continued. "That's why I care what your mother thinks of me, and that's why it's important for me to please her."

"But, it's not about her! All you have to worry about pleasing is me!" He winced again.

"Sorry." I said lowering my voice. After a while I turned to look at Vincent. He smiled down at me for the first time in two weeks.

"Don't start worrying. I'll be fine." He said with a faint smile across his face.

* * *

The next week brought more horrible symptoms. The pool was done, but now wasn't the time to party. I went upstairs to check on Vincent for the hundredth time today. He slept most of the day, but I would have to keep waking him because he'd stop breathing and once I checked his pulse and realized that his heart had also stopped beating! I looked down at my sleeping husband. There were sweat beads across his furrowed brow and he wore a frown. I looked down at his chest and noticed there was blood on his shirt. I gasped and shook him lightly.

"Babe..." I said. Vincent slowly awoke and looked up at me.

"What?" he asked hoarsely. I pointed at his chest.

He looked down and touched the stain with a shaky hand. I screamed once I saw Vincent's arm change into Chaos's claw. Seemingly against his own control, the hand shot inside his chest yanking out the bluish silver metal that had been placed there to kill off Chaos. Then suddenly Vincent's body began to jerk violently until he fully transformed into a furious looking demon that hardly resembled what I knew as Chaos. He had indeed begun to deteriorate. His once smooth black leathery skin was now rough and bumpy as if it had been boiled. He was missing one wing and half of the other. The golden eyes that used to shine brightly were a dull ugly brownish yellow color. The sight was worse than any monster I'd seen in any horror film, yet for some reason I wasn't scared.

Instead of roaring furiously and attacking me, he stared at me with those sickly looking solemn eyes. His half wing fluttered weakly. The demon tried to stand up from the bed but staggered and fell. From the floor, Chaos continued to stare up at me as if I had betrayed him.

"I'm sorry." I said softly. Chaos's eyes shut slowly and his body faded into Vincent's. Vincent laid there lifelessly after the transformation.

"Hey." I said shaking him. He didn't move. I couldn't help but to panic. "Vincent!!" I yelled shaking him again. I hesitantly checked his pulse. I pressed my fingers against his neck, but didn't feel anything.


	15. Betrayal of the Worst Kind

SORRY bout the late update. 

**Betrayal of the Worst Kind**

Two weeks passed with no sign of life from Vincent. Tears continued to roll down my cheeks as I stared down at his lifeless form on the metal table. The assistants here at the lab were doing all they could to find out if there was any chance of Vincent still being alive. The head scientist wouldn't be here for another five and a half more months. The only thing that gave us reasonable doubt that Vincent was truly gone was that he still remained fairly warm. I kept his warm hand in mine at all times to remind me that he wasn't gone yet.

I heard footsteps entering the room but didn't bother to turn around assuming it was just another assistant coming to ask the same question they always did. "Any changes?" Instead of that question I heard my name.

"Amaya." I turned around to see Trace standing there. I turned around quickly and stared down at Vincent's closed eyelids. The footsteps got closer until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me." I whispered squeezing Vincent's hand.

"Baby…"

"Don't!" I said in a firmer voice. I turned to show him a glare.

"He's not waking up." he said crossing his arms and looking down at Vincent.

"You don't know that." My voice returned to a whisper. I stroked the back of Vincent's hand with my thumb.

"No heartbeat, no breathing for over two weeks now? Let's be real, Amaya. He's dead." Trace said placing his hand on my shoulder again.

"Shut up." I said softly. More tears poured down my cheeks. I felt Trace's hand wrap around my upper arm as he attempted to pull me up. "Stop." I said.

"Baby…" he succeeded in pulling my weak body out of the chair and wrapping his arms around me. "Just come home… Let's forget about all this. You've had enough fun playing around with this monster."

"He's not a monster. He's my hus…"

Trace forced his lips upon mine and before I knew it he no longer had to force me to kiss. When the kiss finally broke, I looked up at Trace to see him looking past me with a grin on his face. I spun around and caught a pair of fiery crimson eyes blazing with anger.

"Vin..Vincent." I reached out to take his hand, but he flung it away from me. His eyes never left Trace's all the while.

I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. "Let's go home." Trace said again. I snatched my arm away from him.

"I said no." I growled.

"Go." A low voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Vincent's glare now fixed upon me.

"Vincent…"

His glare darkened and in one swift movement he was off the bed and a second later two perfectly healthy black wings shot out of his back and as Chaos he busted through the window in the room and was gone.

I turned around and slapped Trace as hard as I could. The sound echoed through the room. I ran to the window to catch a glimpse of Chaos flying off high in the sky.

)))

I was scared to enter the house once I approached it. I could see from where I stood that the window to our bedroom had been broken open, meaning Vincent was probably inside. After a few more minutes of hesitation, I finally entered the house. I gasped once I saw all the destruction. Yume sat in the corner of the room curled up in a ball with her nose under her two front paws. Upon seeing me she slowly approached me, crouched down as if she half expected to be attacked.

"It's ok." I whispered as I petted her head softly.

"You're not welcome here." A deep voice that I could barely recognize through its harsh tone said from behind me. I spun around to see Vincent approaching me, glaring all the way.

"Vincent, please…" I begged reaching out for him as soon as he came within reach.

He roughly flung his arm out, painfully knocking my arms away from him. "Never, in all the years that you may live… ever touch me again." he said before turning around. He wore only a pair of black dress pants. I stared at his back and winced in disgust as I saw the skin on his back protruding as Chaos's wings threatened to shoot out of him. I dropped to my knees and began to cry. When Vincent's footsteps stopped it gave me a little bit of hope that maybe my tears still affected him.

"Your tears mean nothing to me. Take what's left of your possessions and leave. I wish not to see you by the end of this week." He said before continuing on his way out of the room. I sat on the floor with Yume in my lap crying for hours before I decided to pick up the phone and call Rena. It rang and rang and rang and I finally got her voicemail.

"Rena…it's me." I started crying again thinking about what I was about to say. "Vincent's kicking me out…and…I need somewhere to stay for a while. Call me back soon." I hung up my cell phone and let it hit the carpeted floor. Yume walked over to it and sniffed it and looked up at me sadly.

Midnight soon came and Rena hadn't called me back yet. I hadn't moved from the floor by the front door. The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs made my heart stop. I looked up and saw Vincent coming down the stairs. He passed through the living room and went into the kitchen without sending me a glance. I mustered up all the courage I had in me to try and talk to him.

"Vi…"

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say." He said calmly as he fixed himself a turkey sandwich.

I sighed finding myself getting angry. "It wasn't me."

Vincent didn't say anything so I continued. "Trace took advantage of me! I was so out of it because I was so damn depressed over you that I just couldn't…I couldn't stop him!" I yelled making damn sure Vincent heard me.

He spread some mayonnaise over his turkey on the sandwich and placed the other piece of bread on top. His face was still very calm.

"Vincent." I said firmly taking a few steps towards him. I reached out to touch his arm, but he suddenly stopped his preparations and turned quickly towards me.

"Did you not hear what I said?" he asked taking the final step towards me that closed the distance between us. I gasped and shuddered as I could almost feel the coldness radiating off of him. I turned away from him.

I stared down at the floor saying nothing as Vincent breathed down my back. "Hmm?"

He asked bring his face close to my cheek. That action struck the wrong chord and suddenly I was fired up with anger. I spun around quick enough to surprise even the great Vincent Valentine and slapped him across his pale cheek hard enough to instantly turn it red.

Vincent turned back to me and glared at me through narrowed eyes. "Are you going to hit me back?" I asked him turning my cheek up at him. "Do it."

"Get out." he growled.

"Make me." I crossed my arms not caring how childish that sounded. There was no way I was going to let him do this to me. I know Vincent would never hurt me so I have nothing to be scared of. If he wants me out that badly he'll have to bring the cops here.

"Get out!" he roared loudly pushing his fresh sandwich off the counter onto the floor. Yume wasted no time in devouring it.

"You don't scare me. You never have and you never will." I said getting as close to his face as I could at my height.

Vincent was literally shaking with anger and even his breathing was unsteady, but I didn't let it scare me. I stared him in the eye with just as much intensity as he stared into mine. Then suddenly I saw the impossible. A tear escaped his left eye and ran down his cheek.

"Vincent…" I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him as tight as I could. "I'm so sorry. I swear to you it wasn't me. Trace did that on purpose, Vincent. You know I love you. You know I do!" I cried into his hair. Suddenly I felt his body relax and his hands rested on my lower back.

"But you knew, Amaya. You knew I couldn't die. I've told you before when Chaos dies, like he did, he will take my life then revive us both." He said. His voice had finally returned to its softer tone that I'd gotten so used to.

"You didn't tell me the process would take more than two weeks!" I pulled away and looked up at him with a smile. He wiped his one wet cheek and was quickly composed.

He nodded, but then frowned. "That vision of you…and…Trace… it'll never leave my mind."

"Vincent."

"I still want you to leave." he said pulling away from me. I tried to touch him again, but he backed away. In a few swift steps, he was out of the room again.


	16. Starting Over

**Starting Over**

Though things didn't end as rough as they could have, Vincent was indeed serious about me moving out. For almost six months now, I've been living with Rena and Reno in their new apartment. Consequently they now stayed in the apartments three blocks away from the Summer Ridge apartments where Vincent and I first met. Sometimes on the way back from my new job as a customer service agent at a company selling electronics, I'd ride by there and fill my head with all the memories we made there.

I sat in my bedroom alone looking at the TV. I wasn't really watching it since my mind was so far away. Suddenly the door flew open and Rena flew on top of me on the bed.

"Guess who I saw at the quick shop around the corner!" she screamed as she straddled me.

"Who…" I mumbled.

"Vincent motherfuckin Valentine!" She screamed.

I sat up. "No way." I couldn't help but smile a little knowing he was in town.

"Way! I left Reno there he's supposed to be talking him into coming to a little gathering later." She nudged me seductively hinting at what she was planning. I rolled my eyes.

"If Vincent wanted to see me again he'd call or at least text me." I said with a disappointed sigh.

"Uh!" Rena rolled her eyes. "I don't care what he says or does I know that man loves you. You are dying without him and I'm not going to stand here and let you two be apart any longer!!" she said her voice rising louder and louder until her last word was nearly loud enough to break glass.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever…"

* * *

Three hours later I was sitting in the bathroom while Rena curled my hair. It was winter now so I wore a furry white sweater and a short black skirt with black hosiery and tall black boots. Rena did my make up as well putting dark eye shadow on me.

"Perfecto." She said blowing a kiss in the air.

I glanced at myself but said nothing. Nothing could excite me now except Vincent telling me he wants me back. I heard the door open and two sets of footsteps walking through the door.

"Reno! Is that you!?" Rena yelled leaving the bathroom. I cringed when I heard them kissing as he met her halfway in the hallway. I left the bathroom and squeezed passed them in the hallway to enter the living room.

I gasped when I saw who was standing by the front door.

Vincent glanced at me. He didn't look as shocked to see me or at least he tried to act nonchalant. He wore the same style black buttoned down shirt and black jeans that I first saw him in. I turned to go back to my bedroom, but was stopped by Rena. She spun me around and literally pushed me towards Vincent. I turned my head to the side, afraid to face him.

"Rena, stop." I somewhat muttered once I was nearly on top of him. She gave me the final push that landed me in his arms. Vincent took me into his arms willingly for a moment, but broke the embrace.

"Uh…" I stuttered.

"It's been a while." My knees went weak at the sound of that smooth voice.

"You…you have n..no idea." I looked up into his eyes then down at the floor. He sighed softly before extending his hand out to me. I looked up at him for approval before taking it. He nodded.

I slipped my fingers around his and followed me out of the door. We walked down the sidewalk and took a turn towards the old apartments. I glanced up at him. I felt so nervous as if this were the very first time I'd gone anywhere with him.

When we arrived at the apartments, Vincent seemed to notice an obstacle. The gate to the fountain and tennis court was locked. His arm snuck its way around my waist and he jumped high with me in his arms, landing softly on the other side of the fence. He brought me to the bench in between the two tall bushes. We sat in silence for the longest time, and it reminded me of the old times I used to meet him here and sit quietly.

Then he finally spoke. "How have you been?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Do I need to answer that?"

He sighed. "No…"

There was more silence.

Then I felt his hand wrap around mine again. "I think…it would be best if we…"

My heart sank as he started his sentence in such a melancholy tone. I know he didn't drag me all the way out here to tell me he thinks it's best we don't see each other anymore. We haven't been seeing each other at all anyway!

"…start over." He finished. My eyes widened and I looked up at him. His eyes were fixated on the empty water fountain.

"Start over?" I repeated just in case I'd heard him wrong.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking down and meeting eyes with me. "As you know…when I'm away from you…I do a lot of thinking. I realized that I'd spent nearly every minute of our relationship attempting to run from it. Had you seriously sought out after another man, I would have deserved it. I want to be a true partner to you, Amaya and court you seriously with every effort I can. You've always been the one keeping us together, the entire weight of our relationship has always been on you."

Vincent never has failed to shock me. I couldn't believe here he was feeling guilty again after I'm the one who screwed up. I sighed softly. "I always thought, if you didn't feel the same you wouldn't be there, you know?"

"Hmm?" His hand tightened around mine.

"You know how you are. If you truly didn't want anything to do with me, you wouldn't have been there, Vincent. You wouldn't have been sleeping in my apartment every night nor would you have come all the way to San Diego for me. I understood why your feelings were a bit conflicting now and then, but never once did I feel burdened by that." I smiled at him. He didn't smile back but stared at me for a while.

He stood suddenly and held his hand out to me again. I took it and he lead me into the apartment building. He used Chaos's power to get through the locks until we were able to get upstairs into our old hallway. I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face as we walked down it hand in hand.

"The couches are gone!" I gasped pointing at the single plant in the corner of the hallway. Vincent only nodded. He then took a step towards his old apartment. He unlocked it as well to find it completely empty. The walls were still painted black and the windows still had garbage bags over them.

I smiled as we looked around the place. We both froze as we heard footsteps across the hall. I sighed as I guessed that meant we wouldn't get to break into my old one. Vincent smiled knowingly as if he'd read my mind.

"I do not need to see your place as I haven't lost not one of the memories we made there." His smile widened and he placed his arm around me. We leaned against the wall together in silence for a while. Finally he spoke the words I'd been waiting to hear for six months.

"So, shall we start over?" he murmured almost seductively as he arm tightened around my shoulder.

I nodded quickly. "Please, let's. And please forgive m…"

"Shh…" He placed his finger against my lips. "There needn't be anymore talk of past events, now." I nodded again. "Well then, let's get you home and I will call you tomorrow morning. I'll take you out for breakfast."

I smiled. "Vincent…you don't have to…"

"I want to, Amaya. I want to be the one making most of the effort as it should have been in the first place." He said almost angrily. I sighed in agreement and took his hand once more as we began our journey back to Rena and Reno's apartment.

He paused with me by the front door. It was almost as if he was wondering whether or not to kiss me. "We're married, you know." I reminded him.

He shook his head no. "Legally, yes. But in the future I'd like to do that over as well. The right way."

I smiled at him. I couldn't be any happier with this new attitude of his, and I said a silent prayer as I watched him walk down the sidewalk into the darkness that nothing else would pose to stand in our way.


End file.
